The Price Of A World
by Tupz
Summary: Hermione goes on a holiday to Zermatt thinking it to be a relaxing trip. How wrong she was. It was an adventure full of lust, avelanches, late night walks and mystery men. Little did she know that these events would effect her 7th year at school.
1. Chapter One

The Price of a World

Chapter One

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"Lucius, send out for all my Death Eaters. Gather as many new followers as possible, bring them in by force if you must! We shall go to any lengths to bring Potter down." Voldemort smirked evilly.  "This time Potter will not stand in my way! The day approaches, when the whole Wizarding world will bow down to me! And I shall watch every little mudblood squirm and scream as I torture and kill every, single, one." He laughed once more.

_"Narcissa! Lucius where is that fucking woman of yours?"_

_"Sorry master. I shall get her for you immediately." Lucius bowed, turned and left. A few moments later he was back with Narcissa in tow._

_"Narcissa…" Voldemort smirked. "Prepare me my velvet robes, I want to look my best when I kill Master Harry Potter." Voldemort cackled evilly and it echoed through out the room…_

"No! NO!" Harry woke with a start. He sat up and put on his glasses. He was drenched in a cold sweat. The laughter still ringing in his ears, it was getting to hard to handle. His scar burned, searing his skin. He was in excruciating pain, and it was getting worse as the days went by. He knew Voldemort was getting stronger he could feel it, he could see it. In his 4th year no one believed him. But now they sure did. It took them over a year to believe him. Harry was in his 6th year at Hogwarts. He was trying his best to do the work but Voldemort's powers were getting too much. The dreams were getting more frequent and the pain was getting worse. He didn't think he'd last much longer but he had to. Sheer will power kept him going. The prophecy Dumbledore had told him about the year before kept coming back to him. In the end, either Voldemort or Harry would be the last one standing. Only one of them would make it. And Harry was starting to doubt his chances. He didn't like to think that the fate of both the Wizarding World and the Muggle world relied on him. 

Harry got out of bed, put on his jeans and t-shirt and went to sit at the desk in his dorm. He got a quill, inkbottle and parchment out of the drawer. He looked at the parchment, his eyes filled with tears and he buried his face in his hands. Whenever Harry's scar burned or he had a problem he'd go to Sirius. Sirius always knew what to do. Harry depended on him. What was he going to do now? With out Sirius he was a complete wreak. Sirius was the only one that knew what he was going through; he was always there for Harry when he needed him. He was like a dad to Harry, and he missed him dearly. He wondered what it would be like for Lupin. Both Lupin and Sirius had no family. They were each other's family. They were like brothers who always got on. Together they were part of a great group of friends. Sirius, Remus, Peter and James Potter. One by one… they all left. Peter went over to the dark side and Harry's father was killed. Now Sirius was gone. And Remus was on his own. Harry turned around and looked at Ron asleep in his bed. He didn't want to wake him. He didn't want to worry him about something like this. It seemed stupid.

In the end Harry gave up and went to sit by the window. He looked out at the cloudy grey sky that hung like a burden over England. It was the first night of the Christmas holidays. Hermione had gone away with her parents. Infact most students didn't stay at Hogwarts these Christmas holidays. Many people were afraid that it would be Hogwarts that Voldemort would attack first. Already people were going missing and more attacks from Death Eaters happening through out the Wizarding world. The number of Death Eaters grew steadily. 

Harry, Ron and Ginny had stayed at school. Mr and Mrs Weasley thought they'd be in less danger staying at school. Harry knew it was really because they didn't want Harry to put their family and home in danger. Harry felt terrible. He was like a burden to everyone. Yet, they felt they had to stand by him because their fate rested in Harry's hands.

Harry missed the days when he didn't have this burden. He knew Hermione loved him, but he didn't want to have to talk to her about his problems. Harry smiled. He remembered the first time he had kissed Hermione. She was crying for some reason, she sat under a tree by the lake crying. And he had been there for her.__

**_//Flashback- just to help you get the idea//_**

"Hermione…"

"Go away!" Hermione yelled at the person. The person sat next to her and put their arm around her.

"I thought I told you to go away." Hermione lifted her head and looked at her comforter. "H-Harry, I'm sorry I didn't know…"

"It's ok, I would've told everyone to go away as well." Hermione smiled meekly at him. Harry wiped away her tears with his sleeve. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No…" Hermione turned away from him. Finally she cracked. "OH HARRY! T-they will never f-forget it! People can't just forget s-something like that! A-a-and Malfoy saw-w as well!" Hermione cried even harder onto Harry's shoulder, soaking his robes with her tears.

"Oh Hermione… I'm so sorry this had to happen to you. But you have to learn to take things in your stride." Hermione stopped crying and let go of her grasp around Harry. She sat back and wiped the tears away from her eyes. Harry smiled at her.

"Come on, let's go back to the common room. We can get Ron to go get us some butter beer and lollies. We can hang out in my room." Hermione smiled at Harry as he stood up and held his hand out to Hermione. She took his hand and he helped her up onto her feet. They walked together back up to the castle.

There was no one around since lunch finished a while ago and everyone was in class. Harry knew they were going to get into trouble for not showing up to class but Hermione was more important. They walked quickly up to the Gryffindor common room, making sure they avoided teachers, ghosts and open classroom doors.

"Popsicle" Harry whispered and the portrait door swung open, they dashed in and closed the door behind them.

" 'mione! Are you okay?" It was Ron; he was sitting in a couch next to the fireplace waiting for them.

"You should be in class!" Hermione exclaimed. It was like it just dawned on her that they all should be in class. "Oh my! Harry you should be in class too! And so should I! You're going to get into trouble! Go to class right now! Oh dear, what will your excuse be! Uhhh, just say… say it was my fault!" Hermione was getting hysterical now. "Shit! I'm supposed to be in Arithmacy! I'll have missed so much work already!"

"Hermione! Calm down! I don't mind missing out of Divination! Plus you're more important!" Harry said.

"Yeah, what he said," Ron added.

"Uhhh… I don't know."

"Oh come on Hermione! Do you really want to go to class and have everyone tease you about what happened before!?" Ron questioned. Harry glared at him as tears welled up in her eyes

As long as you two promise to catch up!"

"Yeah, yeah sure…" Harry and Ron mumbled.

"So Ron, a crate of butter beer, some chips, lollies, chocolate?" Harry enquired.

"Sounds good! Can you get some cream pie's too?"

"What? No I meant _you_ go get it!"

"Oh what?" Ron seemed very disappointed. Hermione giggled silently. "Fine, I'll go get it. But if I get caught its all your fault!" Harry laughed and pretended to kick him out the door. Ron gave Harry the finger and left.

"Come on, we can go up to my room and wait for Ron," Harry and Hermione went to go up to the room when Gryffindor students starting filling into the room, class had obviously ended. 

'Shit, this is just what we need.' Harry thought.

"Hey look! There she is!" Lavender yelled. Hermione turned around to look at the crowd.

"Hey Hermione, do you think you could give us a little peep at that black lacy number?" A boy yelled from the crowd.

"Oi Hermione, Care to pose for us?" Another boy shouted. Hermione's eyes widened.

"I hate you all! I thought you'd be different but no, you're all just like the Slytherins!" Hermione screamed at the crowd. She ran up the dorm steps with tears streaming down her cheeks. She ran into her room and slammed the door. Harry looked around at everyone in the room. He was so disgusted with their behaviour that he turned and followed Hermione up to her room. Harry knocked on the closed door but there was no answer so he opened the door anyway.

"Hermione?" Harry asked. He turned around to see Hermione lying with her back to him on the bed, crying. He went over and sat on the bed next to her.

"Harry, it'll never stop." Hermione managed to say through tears.

"Don't think that. Of course it will!" Hermione sat up and looked at Harry. Her eyes were red and puffy.

"They are just like the Slytherins. They don't care about other people's feelings! No one does!"

"Hermione! Ron cares about your feelings! I care a lot about your feelings. I care a lot about you."

"I know you care about me Harry,"

"No, no you don't. You don't know how much I care about you Hermione." Hermione looked at Harry, her eyes still teary.

"W-what?"

"I love you Hermione. I love you a lot. I can't stand seeing you like this." A tear rolled down Hermione's cheek. Harry leaned over to Hermione, but she pulled away.

"Sorry," Harry said. "I should've realised you don't feel the same way. I'll…go..." Hermione quickly grabbed his arm before he had gone to get off the bed.

"No don't leave." Harry looked at her totally shocked. She smiled at him. Hermione leaned into him, Harry took the opportunity and leaned forward and kissed her. He put his hand at the back of her neck, pulling her in closer. Hermione put her arms around him and tried not to smile and ruin the kiss. Suddenly Hermione pulled away.

"Harry, someone is coming!" Harry stood up and glared at the door, hiding Hermione behind him. The door opened, Harry was about to abuse the person when Hermione yelled.

"Ron! It's you!" Ron stood in the doorway shell-shocked. Harry rushed over and helped him with the food.

"I - uh heard about what happened." Ron mumbled to Harry.

"Yeah, don't mention it around her."

They lay all the food out on Hermione's desk and set up a mattress and pillows on the floor near the fireplace. They sat for hours talking, laughing, eating and drinking. Every now and then Harry would wink at Hermione and she's try her hardest not to laugh.

"Jesus, I need to use the toilet. 'mione can I use your loo? I don't think I can make it to the men's!" Hermione laughed at nodded. Ron got up and ran to the toilet making sure he closed the door behind him. Hermione instantly leaned over and kissed Harry. Hermione smiled.

"I love you…" Harry whispered.

"I love you too…" She whispered back. Harry started kissing her again and Hermione leaned into the kiss, never wanting to stop.

"Well, well, well…" Hermione screamed and turned around too see Ron staring at them.

"Ron! Why didn't you say something earlier!" Hermione yelped.

"Good on ya mate!" Ron said whilst giving Harry a high five as he sat back down.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Harry has had a crush on you for ages! As if I didn't know about it." Ron said like she was stupid. Hermione picked up a pillow and threw it at him.

"No need to be cocky!" She said as she laughed. She was knocked backwards into the mattress when a pillow thrown by Ron got her in the face.

"Eeeek!" She squealed.

"Hey! Your gonna get it Ron!" Harry got a large pillow and buried Ron's face in it. Soon the three of them were caught up in a pillow fight, which slowly turned into a food and pillow fight. It was 3am on Saturday morning and the three of them were lying on their backs on the mattress.

"Right, I'm buggered so I'm going to bed. I have to get up for Quidditch practice tomorrow morning, as do you Harry." Harry looked over at Hermione.

"No, I'm not going to Quidditch practise tomorrow." Harry smiled at Hermione.

"Oh holy Jesus… I'm going. You two are starting to go all mushie on me!" Ron got up and ran out of the room closing the door quietly behind him. Hermione burst out with laughter. Harry looked at her like she had gone insane.

"What's so funny?"

"Everything, Ron and watching us and then him having to get away from us."

"He is just jealous of me!" Harry laughed and Hermione threw a pillow at his head and he fell backwards onto the mattress again. Hermione went and lay on top of him, resting her head on his chest. Harry kissed the top of her head and stroked her hair gently.

"I had better get back to my own room." Harry whispered to her.

"No, don't leave. Stay here tonight." Harry was shocked at what Hermione was saying.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked. Hermione smiled at him and nodded.

"Okay…" Harry sat up and pulled the doona over them both and got a few pillows for their heads. When Harry lay back down Hermione snuggled into him and rested her head on his chest.

"Night Harry," Hermione whispered.

"Night Hermione. Love you…"

"Hmmm… love you too." She closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

**//End of Flashback//**

Harry smiled to himself. That was one of the happiest moments in his life. They had been going out for a year in February. Harry went back to bed and fell asleep dreaming of Hermione. 

** * **

"Please fasten your seat belts for the landing." The airhostess' voice said through the microphone. "Welcome to Zürich and thank you for flying International Airlines. Have a nice day!" When the airhostess finished Hermione's father woke her.

"Hermione we are here." She yawned and rubbed her eyes. She helped her parents get their boarding luggage from the overhead cabins. All three of them got off the plane, collected their luggage and hailed a cab.

"Where would you like to go mister?" The cab driver asked.

"Zermatt please." Mr. Granger said politely.

"And make it quick." Added Mrs. Granger. Hermione sat in the back of the cab between her parents. She set her watch to Switzerland time; 1:20pm. The cab drive was long and tedious. A first she watched the Swiss mountains and towns fly by as they drove but she soon got bored and decided to play games on her mobile phone. They didn't reach the chateau until 4:30pm. Hermione and her parents went straight to their rooms. Hermione collapsed on her bed she was that exhausted. She soon drifted off to sleep and woke a few hours later. When she woke there was a note on her bedside table.

"_Dear Hermione, Your father and I have decided to go for a walk around the town, do abit of sight seeing. We wont be back for dinner so just go down to the hotel restaurant and get something to eat. We didn't want to wake you, you look so tired. If you want you can go looking around the hotel but don't leave the hotel. See you tomorrow morning, don't wait up for us. Love Mum."_ Hermione read the not aloud. She sighed. "Guess I'm on my own." She looked at the clock by her bed it was 6:30pm. "Hmm… around about dinner time."

Hermione got up and changed into her bootleg, dirty demin jeans and white 'Rusty' jumper. She slid on her chocolate brown suede boots that came half way up her calf muscle. She tied her hair up loosely in a clasp with some little ringlets hanging down around her face and a few down the back of her neck. She took the room key and left.

She took the lift down to the front foyer. When the lift doors opened the smell of ginger and holy leaves met her nose. 'Hmmm… I love that Christmas smell.' She thought to herself as she walked through the foyer and down a short flight of stairs. Off to her right was the hotel restaurant, which was only for guests. Off to her left was a corridor. The corridor seemed a lot more appealing than the restaurant, so she took a left turn and walked off down the corridor.

The first few rooms were spas, saunas and an in-door pool. There were game rooms and large rooms with TV's, fireplaces, and lounges. She came to the end of the corridor. Before her were two large oak doors. Across the doors, in gold letters was "Hotel Library". Hermione's eyes lit up. "Oh wow… a Switzerland Library…" She breathed, totally amazed. She slowly pushed the two doors open. They creaked as she opened them. She glanced around the library, it seemed empty. Hermione took a few steps in and closed the doors quietly behind her. This library was larger than the library at Hogwarts. Up all the walls were millions of books. There were ladders leading to a pathway half way up the walls. The pathway went the whole way round the room, from the pathway there were more ladders leading up the rest of the wall to the roof. Hermione was breathless; she couldn't believe the amount of books. To her left there was a corridor going through to another section of the library. Hermione walked down through the corridor. When she got into the room she stopped immediately. "Oh my…"

In front of her, one of the rooms' walls was one big window. It looked out at the mountains. They were covered in snow, all you could see was white peaks and kingfisher blue sky. It was beautifully breath taking. There were big comfy lounges in clusters all around the room. Hermione grabbed a book off a shelf and went to sit and read in a single lounge by the window and fireplace.

** * **


	2. Chapter Two

The Price of a World

Chapter Two

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The sky outside was dark and you could only just see the silver outline of the snowy mountain peaks. The library was lit up with gorgeous candelabra's. Hermione was half way through her fifth book when a loud footstep rung throughout the room. It scared Hermione so much she screamed and jumped out of her seat. She turned towards the door.

There stood a very, sexy young man. He wore black pants and shoes with an evergreen cotton polo neck shirt. His silky hair hung loosely with small strands falling over his forehead. He flicked his head back quickly so that the hair over his forehead was no longer in his eyes. Hermione felt her face flush; he was so sexy that she didn't realize her mouth was open. She closed it quickly hoping that he didn't realize.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle – "

"Oh its o - " Hermione seemed to choke on her words.

"Granger? Is that you?"

"M-Malfoy!? What are you doing here?" Hermione was kicking herself inside. '_Why didn't you recognize him! Damn why does he have to be so sexy!' _Hermione thought to herself.

"It's none of your business what _I_ am doing here. What are _you_ doing here?"

"Well then… it's none of _your_ business what I'm doing here." Hermione turned away from him and sat back down and continued to read. Draco walked over to a lounge near Hermione, sat down and started to read. They both sat reading in silence.

"My father owns this hotel, he sent my mother and I here for the Christmas holidays." Draco said this as he continued to read his book. Hermione's eyes looked up at Draco. She smiled to herself.

"My parents brought me here for the Christmas holidays." Draco cleared his throat and continued to read. Draco seemed to be different. Hermione thought he was pretty nice when he wasn't being rude and impertinent. It made her actually, have some sort of feeling for him. He seemed, lonely. Like he needed a friend, not just someone like his followers at school but a real friend. He actually seemed really sweet and innocent, sort of pathetic really.

"So what are you reading?" Hermione asked. Draco looked up from his book. He didn't reply straight away, it was like he was thinking of some sort of rude thing to say to it. Hermione looked right back at Draco. The thing that stood out the most about him was his eyes. They were bluey-grey and when you looked into them you could see terror. Terrified, like there was a child in there, trapped.

"Some muggle book…" He said shortly. Draco's voice woke her out of her trace straight away.

"Oh, " Hermione smiled at him but she didn't receive one in return. "Shit, look at the time. I really have to go. I guess I'll see you around," Hermione stood and put her book back on the shelf and left.

She was in such a daze that she totally forgot to go to the restaurant to have dinner; she slowly made her way back to her room. It was only 11pm; she knew her parents wouldn't be back yet.

'Damn Draco… he just had to be so sexy! Why do I feel like this!? I love Harry, but I'm attracted to Draco. No… no, I don't love Draco, he calls me mudblood and insults me at every opportunity. But… today he seemed so much nicer; he didn't insult me at all. He was…different…' These thoughts ran through Hermione's head all night. She tossed and turned in bed, thoughts scrambling with each other and images of Harry and Draco flashing here and there.

** * **

'What's with the mudblood? Why…why couldn't I think of anything rude to say to her? Not only couldn't I think of something to say I didn't _want to say anything to hurt her. She looked so beautiful sitting there, reading her book with her hair just falling gorgeously around her face and those tight jeans. And how the fire's light lay a red glow across her olive skin and giving her hair a red tinge. Damn, why did she have to be so sexy! NO! I'm thinking about a mudblood! Shit! What was I thinking about her for! Stupid, filthy, sexy mudblood.' Draco thought as he made his was back to his bedroom in the penthouse. "Damn, I'm going to have to get Granger out of my head." Draco said aloud in the lift up to the penthouse. "But on the other hand, abit of fun with a mudblood wont hurt."_

** * **

"Dumbledore, I can see it in you. You're worried. Why can't you tell me what it is?" Minerva McGonagall was sitting in a large red lounge chair in front of Dumbledore's desk in his office. Dumbledore sat at his desk, his elbows on the desk, eyes closed and his fingers massaging his temples.

"Minerva, you know as much as I do at this present moment."

"That's not what I'm referring to Albus. What are you worried about?" Dumbledore sighed. He clicked his fingers and the blinds shut and the door locked.

"Minerva, Voldemort's strength is rising to higher levels. I don't think I've ever seen him with this much power, strength and as many followers. He said he'd come back, but I wasn't expecting his forces to be twice as strong."

"Oooh Albus. What are we going to do?" Minerva seemed truly worried.

"Minerva, I hate to say this. But I'm starting to doubt Harry's ability to with stand the torments Voldemort has in store for him."

"Are you saying that… he might fail?" Dumbledore sighed; he lay his hands on the table and looked into Minerva's eyes.

"Yes, but we can't start thinking that. Harry needs all the support he can get. I'm organising a meeting with Harry and his closest friends when school starts back. I need to stress that Harry will need support and I need to warn them of how Voldemort may try to get at Harry through his friends."

"Hmm… that does sound reasonable. But Dumbledore, we can't expect him to do a certain thing. We have to keep our options open. I know that I should wait until the meeting to bring this up but we need the Order. Without the Order, we have no chance." Dumbledore shook his head slowly.

"No Minerva, the Order is finished. Everyone is too scared to join or have gone over to the other side. Its useless…" Dumbledore stood and walked over to the fireplace. The fire was blazing away, its golden flame cast a red glow across Dumbledore's face. Every crease, line and wrinkle was highlighted on his face. Usually Dumbledore didn't look his age, but at this moment you would've thought he was triple his age.

"Albus you need rest. I shall see you in the morning." With that, McGonagall stood and left the office leaving Dumbledore looking wearily into the wild flame's flickering against the stone floo wall.

** * **

It was about 7am when her mother woke her.

"Hermione, come on. It's a beautiful day for skiing!"

"Uhhhh…." Hermione just grunted and rolled over. A few minutes later her sleep was disturbed again.

"Hermione, get up! I want to go skiing now!" Her dad pulled the covers of her, and instinctly Hermione moved straight into the fetal position to keep warm.

"Fine Hermione, we'll go without you. If and when you decide to get up we'll be on the skiing plain. Bye dear." Hermione's mother leaned over and kissed her cheek and then pulled the covers back over her. Hermione was now half awake and she knew she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. She heard her parents close the room door behind them and their footsteps slowly faded, as they got further away.

Hermione got out of bed and looked around the room. She went and took a long hot bath; there was a bottled of complimentary lavender scented bubble crystals so she added them to her bath. Half an hour later her skin started to go wrinkly from the water so she decided to get out. Whilst she was getting dressed she ate a bit of toast her parents had left her. Once she was ready she checked herself in the mirror, she wore her black cord pants, her chocolate boots (same as the day before) and a white top. She smiled at her reflection, opened the heavy drapes and looked out over the Swiss mountains. It was a glorious day, and her mother was correct, it was a beautiful day for skiing. She grabbed her parker, left the room and headed out towards the skiing plain.

** * **

Hermione had found her parents but she didn't really want to ski with them. She skied off down the mountain right to the bottom where her locker was. She decided to do abit of snowboarding. She got her snowboard and took the ski lift up to the slalom. She was having great fun dodging all the obstacles when another snowboarder cut sharply across in front of her leaving her no other option to sharply steer off to the left. She was so shocked she lost control and fell backwards onto her bottom. What really annoyed her was that the person didn't even stop to say sorry.

"Are you alright?" Hermione turned around to face the person. She just looked at him. The person offered their hand out to help her up.

"Thank you… Draco." She said politely.

"Are you hurt?" Draco asked her quickly, looking around.

"No, not that I know of." 

"Okay then." With that Draco got back on his snowboard and sped off down the mountain. Hermione smiled to herself, she got a pretty good view of his arse from up where she was. She laughed and got back onto her snowboard and slowly made her way back to the bottom.

** * **

It was half way through Hermione's second week at the hotel and she hadn't seen Draco since their encounter on the mountain. Ever since that day Hermione _needed to see Draco. It was like she __needed to know he was okay, she __needed to hear his voice again._

It was Wednesday morning and Hermione sat at the table in her room eating breakfast looking out over the mountains. Her parents had gone shopping in Bern, shopping wasn't one of her favourite things to do so she stayed behind. It was something like –23 degrees (Celsius) outside and it was snowing heavily.

Hermione put on her white bikini with hot pink and yellow tropical flowers. And her warmer clothes on over top. She headed down to the spa rooms. She went into spa room number 4; in this room it was a large spa sort of pool sized. There were a few people in the spa. Hermione went in and left her things on a bench and slowly slid into the warm pool of water.

As the hours went by, slowly people left. Hermione guessed it was around lunchtime that's why there was no one about. She was glad for some peace and quiet and some time to herself. She rested her head back against the side and closed her eyes. Breathing in the smell of frangipani incense and chlorine from the water. The click of the door closing woke her from her daydream. Her eyes flew open and darted towards the door. The person who stood there brought a smile to her face but she quickly hid it. She suddenly realized that she was in her bikini, showing off more of her body that even Harry hadn't seen and Draco Malfoy was standing there looking at her. She quickly got out of the pool and wrapped her towel around her. She stood there looking at him, wide eyed.

"Oh now why did you go do that?" Draco said with a smirk.

"Excuse me!?"

"You look sexy in that bit of cloth." Hermione made a choking noise. She stared at Draco. His hair hung loosely with small strands falling over his forehead. He wore black billabong board shorts… and no shirt. His chest was muscular and tanned; with his six pack standing out clearly.

Draco smirked as he noticed she was checking _him _out. Draco put down his towel and got in. He looked up at Hermione.

"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to get back in?" Hermione just looked at him. He shrugged and lay back in the water. He closed his eyes but not completely, keeping a little gap open where he could see what Hermione was doing. Hermione gave in and slowly took her towel off and slid back into the water. Both of them sat in silence.

Suddenly Draco flicked some water and splashed it in Hermione's face obviously on purpose.

"Eek!" Hermione shrieked, and stared at Draco. Draco just smirked. Straight away Hermione splashed him back. That sure did wipe the smirk off Draco's face. Draco splashed a lot more water at Hermione this time. Hermione laughed. And splashed Draco again. This time Draco swam over, picked Hermione up and threw her into the water. She shrieked and wiped the water from her eyes. She stood in the water shocked.

"Did you just grab my arse!?" Hermione said. Draco laughed and Hermione joined in. Hermione's hair _was_ in a ponytail but now hung down with the weight of the water. She picked up her clasp from her bag and pulled all her hair up into it. Draco moved through the water over to Hermione.

"Your bikini strap around your neck…" Draco said as he moved behind her.

"…What about it…" Hermione said, watching him moving only her eyes.

"It's coming undone." Draco said. He leaned closer to her and re-tied Hermione's bikini. When he finished he stayed where he was, with is hands on her shoulders. Hermione turned her head around so that her right cheek was touching Draco's right cheek. Draco leaned in closer and kissed Hermione's neck. Her skin burst out in goose bumps.

"Malfoy…" Hermione whispered. Draco kissed her neck again.

"Yes…" Kiss. "…Hermione…" Hermione couldn't believe her ears. Draco Malfoy had just called her Hermione. It shocked her so much that she totally forgot that she was flirting with and being kissed by that very person, Draco Malfoy. Hermione pulled away from him, and turned to face him.

"Draco, I don't know…"

"What?"

"You have always called me…a mudblood… and you have never stopped bugging me, Harry, Ron and other of my friends. I don't understand why you're being like this now!"

"I don't know…" Hermione stopped and looked into his eyes, trying to see what she saw in him. Thinking of what to do, whether he was worth it.

"I'm sorry Draco. But **_'I don't know'_** isn't a good enough answer to make me forgot the suffering you put me and my friends through for the last 5 years." Hermione got out of the spa and put her clothes back on just before she left she stopped and turned to look at Draco.

"I like you for who you are, not the person you pretend to be." With that she turned and left as quickly as she could.

Hermione's stomach was in knots. Millions of knots. She had just been mucking around with Draco Malfoy; Draco Malfoy had just been kissing her neck. She had just walked away from Draco Malfoy; she knew it was the right thing to do. Because she loves Harry and she is his girlfriend. But she didn't want to leave, being kissed like that by Draco sent goose bumps and shivers all over her body. It made her want more, she craved it. She thought she loved Harry, but experiencing these new feelings made her doubt her love for Harry.

Thinking these thoughts almost brought tears to her eyes. Every time she thought about Draco, about how much she hated him from being such a prat just made her feelings for him stronger. It was tearing her up inside. And what was worse was that she wasn't sure whether she loved Harry any more. She kept telling herself that it would never work with Draco, it just wouldn't. 'I do love Harry; I keep thinking I don't love him any more because I haven't been around him for so long. It'll all be different when I get back to school.' Hermione tried to convince herself this was true, but no matter how hard she tried part of her kept reminding her of Draco.

** * **

"Shit." Draco punched the water. "I shouldn't have done that."

'Father was right Mudbloods are trouble. They make a person weak; I have to do something about this. I cannot let that stupid Granger girl turn me into a complete fag. But… I don't understand. I experience emotions, when I'm with her that I've never felt before. Why can't I bring myself to hurt her? What's wrong with me!? Why do I have feelings for _her_? I have never had feelings like this for anyone. Why am I attracted to her? What is it about her?' Draco wandered aimlessly back to his private room thinking over what had just happened in the spa.

** * **


	3. Chapter Three

The Price of a World

Chapter Three

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"Remus, any word from Dumbledore?"

"No Alastor, nothing." Lupin, Alastor (Mad-Eye) Moody, Tonks, Sturgis Podmore and Charlie Weasley sat around the large dining table in the kitchen of number 12, Grimmauld Place. Lupin sat with his hands clasped around a mug of coffee. He was looking old and weary; the dark bags under his eyes sagged adding at least five years to his actual age. Moody sat back in his chair drinking from his hip flask full of whisky as usual. Sturgis had fallen asleep in his chair. His head lay heavily on the table; the occasional snore was emitted from his nose and a string of drool slowly dripped out of his mouth to make a small puddle on the table. Tonks and Charlie were engrossed in a card game. Today Tonks' hair at the moment was hot pink but every five minutes it would change to a different colour. The cycle was hot pink, orange, yellow, lime green, blue, purple and back to the hot pink. Charlie was his same old self. He had left his job with dragons in Romania to come back and be with his family. Against his parents wishes he had decided to help fight in the remaining few left in the Order.

"Some times I start to think that keeping the Order together is pointless. Dumbledore obviously thinks it's pointless if he isn't giving us any orders."

"Maybe he thinks we should be thinking for ourselves." Charlie added.

"Tonks, even if Dumbledore thinks it's useless in keeping the Order working we have to try. We may not do much, and when we do it might not take much effect on Voldemort's forces. But in the long run you never know. It may just pay off." Lupin explained.

"Hmm… I guess. HA! I win!" Tonks tossed her cards down onto the table in front of her. Charlie looked bewildered.

"How'd you…. But I…you weren't…" Tonks laughed at Charlie's puzzled face. She lent across the table and patted him on the shoulder.

"You'll need to be a lot better to beat _moi, _" Charlie laughed, as did Tonks. All four of them jumped when they heard the front door slam and Mrs Black's voice yelling at no one in particular, mainly her usual cursing. Sturgis stayed absorbed in his deep sleep. Remus got to his feet and went into the hallway to put a stop to Mrs Black's offensive statements. When he reappeared back in the kitchen he brought their visitors with him. Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape. Lupin offered them a seat at the table and got them a drink. He placed a plate of cookies and slices of cake on the table.

"No need to go to so much fuss Remus." McGonagall said calmly.

"I wont be gracing you with my presence for too long Lupin." Snape drawled.

"Thank bloody goodness." Moody mumbled whilst he puffed away on his pipe. Tonks muffled a laugh and Charlie coughed to cover his own. Luckily Snape, Lupin and McGonagall had not heard what Moody had said.

"Oh Remus, Dumbledore is starting to doubt our chances." McGonagall said.

"Our chances?"

"Our chances of winning against Voldemort."

"There is no winner or loser. There is defeat or death." Charlie added to the conversation.

"Well defeat and death is basically the same as wining or losing. But yes, one side will win and the other's fate will be death or imprisonment." Moody concluded.

"Still… Remus something needs to be done. Can we pull Harry out of school and train him? Is there something we can do to help him advance that little bit more?" McGonagall was starting to sound anxious. Remus sat back in his chair. He said nothing for quite some time. Everyone sat in silence waiting and watching Lupin. At last he sat forward.

"Minerva. I would've thought that you would be the last person to suggest to take a child away from their studies. But I can see where you're coming from. Harry needs to stay in school though; I think its what gets him through the day. What keeps him sane."

"Yes yes I unde-" Lupin cut her off.

"Just wait, let me have my say." Lupin sat forward on his chair. "The person that meant the most to Harry was lost just a year ago. A normal person would've moved on by now, but as we know Harry isn't normal. Sirius was the world to Harry; he was Harry's father icon. I can see it in him he is still suffering. There is already enough pressure of schoolwork and having the whole world depending on him. We don't want to increase the pressure by training him to be prepared for Voldemort. It would make him think we didn't see him strong enough to face Voldemort, which could be demoralising for him." Lupin took a deep breath and continued. "He has faced Voldemort in the past without training and he has pulled through it. So why should we start doubting him now…" Lupin sat back in his chair, meaning he had finished. Everyone sat in silence. Taking in Lupin's point of view. Most of them in awe of how much thought Lupin had put into the matter.

"But even Dumbledore is doubting Harry's chances!" Minerva declared. Lupin stood so quickly his chair fell over backwards. He slammed his fist on the table and looked right at McGonagall.

"Just because Dumbledore doesn't believe in the boy doesn't mean you all have to stop believing in him. What are you all? SHEEP!?" No one had _ever_ seen Lupin this angry. Infact Lupin was never angry; he was always calm and collected. No one said anything. Quietly McGonagall stood and left with Snape in tow. No one moved or said anything until the click of the front door closing after them was heard. Lupin's face was flushed from embarrassment at his outburst; he picked up his chair, slid it neatly under the table and left the room.

"He's right…" Tonks said breathlessly.

"I've known Lupin for quite some time and he must have felt quite strongly on the subject because he wouldn't react like that to anything." Moody started stare back into space again.

"He has a point. Just because Dumbledore doesn't think Harry can do it doesn't mean we have to follow his judgement." Charlie tried to get everyone talking again.

"Hmm… well I'll back Harry all the way." Tonks said as she got up and went to the sink to 'wash dishes'. She just didn't want to have this conversation. Charlie gave up because everyone was so shocked at Lupin's out rage. They sat in silence for the rest of the evening.

** * **

Hermione sat on her bed looking out the window in thought. When there was a knock at the door Hermione fell off the bed with fright. She got up rubbing her head as she went to answer the door. When she opened the door there was no one there, but a bunch of tulips sitting on the doormat. Hermione picked them up and smelt them. There was a card attached. She opened it, it contained a single word in an immaculate handwriting.

"_Sorry."_

Hermione knew whom it was from. Well at least she thought she did. It could only be one person, Draco Malfoy. No one else needed to apologise to her, unless they left the flowers on the wrong doorstep. She looked up and down the corridor. But it was empty. She shrugged and went back into her room. She found a vase in one of the cupboards, filled it with water and placed the flowers in the vase. After a few minutes she decided on putting them in the middle of the small table by the window where she ate breakfast of a morning.

At about two in the morning Hermione found herself walking down the corridor leading to the Library oak doors. She couldn't sleep so she decided to go relax with a book in a comfy chair by the warm fire. She paused just outside the library. It was quiet. She pushed the large doors open slowly as not to make much noise. The library was empty and all the lights were off. She headed straight for the reading room. When she was just outside it she stopped. There was someone in there. She could hear their footsteps. They were coming closer. Her instincts made her turn and walk quickly to exit the library. She was halfway across the library when the door to the reading room opened. She stopped in her tracks.

"Granger…" Hermione nearly died. 'Why do I keep running into him?' She thought to herself. She turned on her heel to face Draco.

"Malfoy…" She replied.

"Do you follow me or something?" Draco asked with abit of a rude disgusted tone.

"Why would I follow _you_? For your information I couldn't sleep so I decided to go read but I heard some one in the reading room."

"So you decided to leave?"

"Yeah well… I didn't want to disturb them…" Draco looked satisfied with her answer. "What were you doing down here at this time anyway?" Draco smirked at her.

"Wouldn't you want to know…" Hermione looked shocked. Draco just laughed. "Naa, I wasn't doing anything naughty. You can go check there isn't anyone in there."  Hermione just smiled meekly.

"So why are you really down here? You investigated me so now im interrogating you."

"I don't sleep much. So I come here at night until I get tired and I go back to bed."

"I see…" Draco and Hermione stood a few feet apart in an awkward silence.

"Uh, I'll let you get back to what you were doing." Hermione turned to leave.

"No, you can go in there and read. I won't mind abit of company, unless you don't want company."

"Oh I don't mind abit of company. But weren't you just leaving?"

"Yeah I was about to go to the shops."

"The shops?" Hermione looked quizzically at him.

"Just down the street is a small shopping centre. Its always open at this time of night."

"Morning," Hermione corrected him.

"Same thing," Draco nodded a good-bye and left. Hermione stayed standing in the middle of the dark library.

"Would you like to come?" Hermione jumped nearly five feet in the air. It was Draco; he had returned and was standing in the doorway.

"Jesus Malfoy…"

"Scared of the dark Granger?"

"No, your voice scared me."

"Oh that's harsh."

"I didn't mean it like that, I didn't expect you to come back. It was just your voice that I wasn't expecting that shocked me. Well not your voice, a noise that I wasn't expecting and it scared me because it was so quiet and…" Hermione was getting herself confused so she decided to stop.

"Right, so instead of trying to avoid the question I asked can you just give me a straight out answer."

"Uh, are you sure you want me tagging along?"

"The way you say that makes it sound like you're a little annoying kid that I have to take with me to my friends place. Let me rephrase the question. Granger would you like a guided tour around Zermatt?" A smile crept across her face.

"No thank you." Draco was shocked that she had turned him down. "I'd like to go for a walk around Zermatt with you." Hermione smiled at him and he gave a half smile back. Well it was more of a smirk but it was an attempt at a smile for a Malfoy. Hermione followed Draco out of the library, down the corridor, through the lobby and out the front door. Outside the Hotel the doorman stopped Draco.

"Master Malfoy, its quite chilly out tonight. Your coat;" He held out Draco's black full length over coat. Draco slid his arms into it and the doorman fixed it up onto his shoulders and brushed any dust or snow off it.

"I have company, I think she will be needing a coat too George."

"Yes, yes of course." He walked back into his little room and returned with an elegant caramel suede coat with fur around the collar, wrists and bottom rim of the coat. It was gorgeous. The doorman held it out whilst Hermione slipped her arms into it. George did the same to Hermione's coat like he had to Draco's. Draco nodded to the doorman and held his arm out to Hermione. She took it and they walked of down the street.

They walked around the streets of Zermatt and across a large park. In the center of the park was a large fountain that no longer flowed with water due to the snow. It was really cold outside and Hermione's nose started to run. Draco handed her his handkerchief.

"Here, use this."

"Thank you." She wiped her nose gracefully and slid the handkerchief into her jeans pocket. Draco took Hermione to a small café. They sat at a small table with two cosy looking single sofas by the window. The view from the window was both beautiful yet frightening. It looked down over the cliff of one of the mountains. But it was gorgeously beautiful covered in the crystal white snow. Draco bought them both a hot chocolate and they sat admiring the view.

"I never would have thought you'd be such a gentleman." Hermione said surprised at how Draco had gotten her a coat, given her his arm as they walked along, taken her to a café and bought her a hot chocolate. Draco looked away from the window and looked at Hermione's face.

"Just because my family have different views as yours, Weasel's or Potty's doesn't mean we throw manners and etiquette out the window.**"**

"My friends _do_ have proper names you know."

"Ok Weasley and Potter. Happy?"

"Well I'm sorry for making an incorrect judgment about your family." Draco fell silent, his eyes looked down into his hot chocolate. Hermione felt as though she might have said the wrong thing. But Draco looked back up at her.

"Well ever since the first year at Hogwarts I was abit of a prick." Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. "Ok so I was a complete ass. I don't know why, I guess family background, being in Slytherin, you being friends with Potter just contributed to it. And I know, you may never forgive me and I don't think I could make it up to you for it. But I wont apologise. As soon as we get back to school it'll go back to being the same." Hermione didn't say anything in reply. She didn't dare open her mouth incase she said something she would regret. Draco saw her distress and began to look out the window again.

"The very few times I have been with you I have enjoyed every second. Until you go and do something or say something like what you said just then and ruin it." Hermione stood and pushed her chair back in against the table. Before she left she placed the amount she owed him for the drink and left the coat hanging over the back of the chair. Before he could say anything she left the café and headed back to the hotel through the freezing cold.

** * **


	4. Chapter Four

The Price of a World

Chapter Four

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The next day everywhere Hermione went Draco was there. She started to get the idea that he was following her. But she ignored him. She didn't want anything to do with him; she avoided him she wouldn't even let him get close to her. Draco continued to show up everywhere for the rest of the week. It was Friday night and Hermione was dreading the next day. Her parents were going to visit friends in Zürich. Since Hermione wasn't invited she was to spend the day at the hotel alone. The past week she had used her parents as a diversion to get away from Draco but now she didn't know what to do to get away from him.

On Saturday Hermione's parents had left long before she woke. It was a magnificent day so Hermione decided to make the most of it and go buy a few clothes in the stores around Zermatt. She aimed to leave as early as possible hoping Draco wasn't an early riser. To her surprise when she went down to the restaurant for breakfast Draco wasn't in sight. Infact even on her way to the library he wasn't anywhere. At 10am sharp she left the hotel, still no sign of Draco. George the doorman gave her a friendly nod and smile as she left.

There were quite a few stores in Zermatt with a large selection of clothes that Hermione liked. Usually she hated shopping but today she was enjoying herself. She was glad to get away from the hotel too. Draco wouldn't go as far as to follow her around the streets of Zermatt, and into a female fashion shop.

By lunchtime her arms felt like they were about to drop off with the weight of clothes she had bought. She pushed her way through the crowd on the sidewalk and took the next right into a street that would lead her back to the hotel.  Surprisingly the street was empty. She thought it abit odd and doubled back to take another route to the hotel. Turning into the next street that led her directly to the hotel was empty.

'Maybe people don't shop in these streets.' Hermione thought to herself and pursued her walk down the street to get to the hotel. It suddenly got very cold; she paused where she was as a chill ran up her spine. Hermione quickened her pace. Her eyes darting everywhere. All the windows of the shops were closed and blinds where drawn shut. She started to become a little suspicious. She stopped at an entrance to a narrow alley way squeezed between two shops. She put her bags down slowly keeping her eyes looking frantically around the cold dark street. She drew her wand from inside her coat. Now a days she never went anywhere without her wand, it was too dangerous especially since Voldemort had officially risen. She held her wand at the ready; she looked left and right, up and down the street. She was on her guard.

The next few seconds all happened so quickly that it was abit of a blur to Hermione. A hand came from behind her and covered her mouth. The other arm coming around her waist holding her arms tightly against her body so she couldn't struggle. Who ever this was, they were strong. Hermione started to panic as the person pulled her backwards into the dark alleyway. She started to think this was the end. No one was in the street to have seen her taken, or to hear her screams. No one even knew she had gone into town to shop. She was alone, so very alone.

Her kidnapper told her to 'Shhhh'. She stood quietly and tried to stop panicking by control her breathing. The kidnapper slowly loosened their grip on her and turned her around so she was facing the captor.

The person was wearing a full-length black coat with the hood up. It shadowed their face; it was pitch black inside the hood. So Hermione couldn't tell whom this person was. She started to panic and back away. It just hit her, it was a Dementor. When the Dementor reached a hand out to grab her arm she screamed. Suddenly the Dementor pulled out a wand and yelled.

"Silencio" And Hermione's scream was muted. This person was a wizard. If they were highly trained in magic she didn't stand a chance. She was terrified, never had she seen a Dementor perform a spell or even talk, which ruled out this person being a Dementor. It scared her even more not knowing what she was to face. The stranger figure grabbed Hermione's arms and pulled her close to it. She struggled but the creature was too strong.

The creature's head bent down and came all the way up to her face. She could feel its breathing against her skin. She let out a trembling sigh. Tears started streaming down her face. She hated not knowing who or what something was. She had to know every detail about them, and not knowing anything about the life form that stood in front of her scared her.

The creature's head came closer and closer. She closed her eyes; she didn't want to see what was about to happen. Icy cold lips came in contact with her own. This was no creature.  It was a person, a male person. He was kissing her. It felt good, the kiss sent a chill all over her body. Adrenalin pumped through her veins and fought with the chills being sent through her body. The feeling it gave was amazing. Hermione had never felt like this before, even when she kissed Harry. This was better… much better. She parted her lips slightly and the persons tongue slid into her mouth. Their tongues entwined together, tasting each other. 

She pulled away for air. She gasped. She didn't realize she had gone for so long with out air.

"Who… what's your name?" She asked looking up into the hood, trying to see the face of who had just kissed her. His hand reached up and touched her cheek. Before she had time to react the person turned and glided away.

"Wait!" Hermione ran after him. "Please! Wait!" But the person wouldn't stop. Hermione knew she was unfit and that person was way to athletic. She stopped and doubled over gasping for air. A stitch ached in the right side of her rib cage. She looked up and he was gone.

"Who _are_ you…" she sighed as she turned and went back to get her bags. She strolled back to the hotel in a trance of what had just happened.

** * **

When Hermione reached her room in the hotel she collapsed on her bed. Closed her eyes and dreamt of what had just happened. She giggled, got up and started to unpack the clothes she had bought. When she was pulling clothes out of the last bag a piece of paper folded neatly fell onto the floor. She looked at it for a while and decided to bend down and pick it up. The paper felt smooth beneath her fingers, she slowly opened it. The paper was scented. The smell wafted up to her nose.

'Yummm, frangipani, and ummm…' She thought for a minute. Surrounding herself with the smell. It was intoxicatingly good. 'Lime. Frangipani and lime.' It was a strange combination but it was heavenly. Her fragile fingers opened the note all the way and read it.

'_Hermione. I shall see you again. After reading this as soon as they look towards the east I shall see you in the west.'_

"That's it, that was all he had to say? Is he crazy? When they look to the east I shall see you in the west!?" Hermione said aloud. She sat on her bed and stared at the note. She knew it was a riddle, but _who_ looks in the east? See me in the west? West of what? Hermione was of course quite smart, but she wouldn't go as far to say that she was a genius when it came to solving problems or riddles. She admired the note. The handwriting was beautiful form of cursive writing, it was written in green ink with what looked like a calligraphy pen.

There was a knock at her door. She went and answered it, and there standing in front of her was Draco. He smirked at her.

"What do you want Malfoy?"

"To talk to you…"

"Well I don't want to talk to you. Bye Malfoy." Hermione was about to close the door on him when he slammed his hand on the door stopping her from being able to close it.

"It wont take long."

"Draco! I don't want to talk to you! Just go back to the hole you came from."

"A hole?"

"Yes, you and your stuck up ways of living! You said yourself that it was going to be the same when we got back to school. I really thought you changed. I was starting to actually _like_ you. Stupid me huh? Befriend a Malfoy, a stupid thing to do." She looked away from him. He looked at her. He turned to go, but came back to face her. A tear ran down her face and Draco wiped it away. He was so close she could feel his breathing on her she could even smell him. 

"Good Night Draco." Hermione closed the door on him. No matter how hard she tried. She couldn't stay angry with Draco.

** * **

The sky outside was dark; Hermione lay asleep in her bed. The clock by her bed showed 3:08am. She sat bold upright.

"The clue…" She whispered. She scrambled out of bed and over to the table where she had left the note.

"When they look towards the east… when both of the clocks hands point to the east. East…" She thought. "3:15am… to the east. See you in the west… west." She ran the word through her mind. The library is in the West Wing of the hotel. "The Reading room. It's the furthest room to the west in this hotel." Hermione ran to her closet, took her pyjamas off and threw a Singlet top and mini skirt on. She grabbed her wand out of the drawers, slipped ugg-boots on her feet and redid her hair in a ponytail on her way out the door. She ran down the fire escape stairs not having time to wait for the lift. She looked at her wristwatch. 3:13am… Hermione hoped she was right about the clue or she would've just woken up and made a mad rush to the library for nothing.  

She heaved the library doors open and ran across the library to the reading room. She glow of candles crept out beneath the door and the smell of a fire burning inside met her nose. She pushed the door open slowly and crept inside. The dark figure stood by the fireplace, he was in the same cloak with the hood covering his head and hiding his face. His hand rested on the mantle while he stared into the fire. He didn't look up when she came in. She walked over to the carpeted lounge area only a few meters away from him. 

Still he didn't look up.

"Hello." It was the only thing she could think of to say and she kicked herself inside for saying it. He looked up from the fire at her; he motioned for her to come to him. She did as he requested. He reached out and touched her face again. That familiar smell, she had smelt it three times in a space of 24 hours. Three? That wasn't right. She had smelt it in the note and on him now. When had see smelt it before? Before she had a chance to ask him all the questions she had wanted to ask he was kissing her again.

That same feeling, the chills and the heat. This time he didn't need an invitation their tongues automatically came together. They pulled away for air at the same time. Hermione stood on tiptoes and kissed him again. He wrapped his arms around her and she snuggled into him. He pulled away again.

"I have to go."

"No, wait. Please. Tell me who you are." Hermione pleaded.

"You wouldn't want to know."

"Why, explain." He looked towards the door.

"Another time." He ran out the door. This time Hermione was ready for him; she followed right on his tail. They were half way down the corridor to the Lobby when the ground started to shake. Hermione stopped. Her mystery man stopped too. He turned to look at her. They stood looking at each other. The ground started to shake vigorously.

"What are you doing Hermione!?"

"Nothing!" He looked back at her and ran into the lobby and straight to the window. Hermione ran after him not wanting to loose him. She looked out the window at what he was looking at. Her eyes widened.

"Avalanche." She whispered. The man ran to the office, smashed a glass case and pushed a red button. Alarms went off all around the hotel.

"Come on! We have to get out of here!" He yelled at her. Hermione started to run towards the Hotel Exit.

"No! Hermione." He ran after her, grabbed onto her wrist and pulled her back towards the libraray.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? The exit is that way! We'll get killed! What are you?  CRAZY!? Let go!!!" Hermione started to struggle.

"If you go out the exit you'll get crushed by the collapsing hotel and covered in the snow. If you come with me, you'll live." Hermione instantly stopped struggling and started to run. When they got to the library they dashed to the reading room.

"There is a passage here, that will lead us under the mountain and into the escape tunnels everyone else will be exiting through."

"Where!?" Hermione looked around the room for a door.

"I'm looking!" Hermione watched the man rummage through books on the bookcases. Movement from the window made her look. The avalanche was racing down the mountain towards them. It cleared away everything in its path, trees and boulders. Soon it would be upon them.

"Hurry!" She looked back to the man and then back to the window. It was advancing and fast.

"Got it, lets go." He ran into the gap, which appeared, between two bookcases. He looked back at Hermione. She stood staring at the window, obviously horror struck. He ran back to her. The snow smashed through the glass. Fine slithers of glass flew everywhere. He picked her up and ran. He could feel the rush of cold air coming closer to his heels. The snow was progressing. He pelted into the passage and pulled the wall closed. The rumble and vibrations ran through the stone passage as the snow banked up against the wall. They collapsed onto the ground. He was laughing and Hermione was near tears.

"How exciting," he said through laughter. Hermione shot him a look that could kill. He shook his body and muddy snow slid off him. Hermione stood up and wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you," She rested her head on his chest. She could hear his heart beating and her head rose and fell with his breathing. She looked up at him. She traced the rim of his hood with her finger. Slowly she drew it back from his face and finally off his whole head.

There before her was a boy a little older than her, his hair hung loosely over his eyes. He flicked it back off his face and she saw his bluey- grey eyes. Hermione took a step away from him.

"Why did you have to do that…" He sighed and just looked at her. His beautiful winter eyes looked at her, and she looked back at them.

** * **

Harry and Ron were in the Gryffindor common room playing exploding snap. It was a hot day and Gryffindor tower was humid. Hedwig flew in through the open window and landed on top of the pile of cards. She seemed grumpy and thrust her leg out at Harry. Not wanting to be pecked Harry took the note hurriedly. He gave her a treat and she waited impatiently for him to send a reply. Harry looked at Ron and smirked.

"It's ok Hedwig, I'll get one of the school owls to send the reply." Hedwig hooted grumpily pecked Harry's head and flew out the window using her foot to slam the window behind her. Ron collapsed in laughter.

"Your owl has issues." Right at that moment Pig buzzed into the room and flew right into the window trying to follow Hedwig. Pig persisted flying into the glass until she became so dizzy she collapsed into a feathery mass on the floor. It was Harry's turn to laugh.

"And you say MY owl has issues!" Harry and Ron roared with laughter. 

** * **

"Hermione… you were so kind to me and I was drawn to you. Hermione, you believed I could be something I wasn't…"

"Draco…" Hermione didn't know what to say. She was so shocked. She admitted to herself that she did have feelings for Draco. But it shocked her so much that she had been kissing this mystery man. The man that she had fallen in love with. She didn't know why she had fallen in love with him, it was the way he had approached her, and tried to stay secret. He was her mystery hero who seemed to love her. But just now, when she found out that her hero was Draco, it brought her fantasy crashing to the ground. Yes she had had dreams about Draco kissing her, but she never thought it would become a reality. 

"But… why?" Hermione looked at him in disbelief.

"I knew you would never love or accept me as the prat of a Malfoy that I am. The cloak was the only way I could get to you…" Hermione sighed.

"Draco I… Oh my god! Harry!" Hermione buried her face in her hands. "Draco, I'm Harry's girlfriend…" She looked at him completely confused. He sighed.

"Im sorry. I should never have done this to you. Come, the exit is this way. Your parents will be worried about you." He turned and started to walk along the dark passage. Her heart went out to him. She loved Harry but being with Draco, she was happy. She liked Draco. She really did. There was something about him… She searched her heart and found the answer she was looking for. 

"Draco wait!" Hermione got up and ran after him, he stopped and waited for her. She ran to him and stopped and looked into his eyes.

"Draco… I didn't think I'd _ever_ say this. But I…" Hermione took a breath and sighed. Draco was expecting the worst. She was going to reject him, say something that will scar his ego. "Draco… I love you, I love you a lot." Draco looked back at her but he did not smile.

"What about Harry?" She looked away and then looked at him again.

"I do love him. At least I thought I did. But I love him for a different reason that I love you. He's my best friend and we have a bond, that bond is my love for him. But you… your so different. I can't explain." Hermione looked into his eyes. "Do you understand?" Draco looked back at her for a long time. Slowly his mouth moved. Hermione thought he was about to speak. But no, he was smiling. When Draco smiled he was gorgeous. His beautiful winter eyes were illuminated. He looked young again, he looked like a child opening his presents on Christmas morning. Hermione laughed.

"You goof…" She reached up and kissed him. He kissed her quite a few times and Hermione tried not to laugh.

"Hermione… it's true. What I said back in the café. It will all go back to normal once school starts. You're on one side and I'm on the other. You're in Gryffindor and I, in Slytherin. I'm supposed to hate you and you're supposed to hate me. " Hermione put her hand at the back of his neck and pulled him into another kiss.

"Draco I don't think I'll be able to tell Harry. It'll break his heart. Already with Sirius gone and him having to face Voldemort…"

"Yeah I understand. We'll keep it a secret until your ready to let people know."

"But Draco, what will the Slytherins think… you loving a…" She paused and looked away. "A Mudblood." She whispered. He cupped her cheeks in his hands.

"Hermione, your not a mudblood. And im so, so sorry for ever calling you that." Tears welled up in her eyes. Never before had Draco said sorry. And here he was saying sorry to her. He had changed and she believed he was truly sorry. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Draco kissed her cheek and took her hand.

"Hurry we seriously do have to get going." Draco ran off down the tunnel and Hermione followed.

** * **

//A.N- Hey I'm Back! Yeah I fixed a few things in this chappy. Coz I got back, read it and was like 'Woah what a crap chappy.' How OoC is everyone! Lol Sorry it was really rushed. I'll get a few more chappyz up in the next week or so coz I'm on summer holz. Well feel free to e-mail me at bottled_devotion@hotmail.com if u wanna get the next chappy early or if you have ne questions. I put the new chapters up on my website a few days before I put them on fan fiction. So check it out if u want. Cyaz J//****


	5. Chapter Five

The Price of a World

Chapter Five

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"Hermione, your not a mudblood. And im so, so sorry for ever calling you that." Tears welled up in her eyes. Never before had Draco said sorry. And here he was saying sorry to her. He had changed and she believed he was truly sorry. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Draco kissed her cheek and took her hand.

"Hurry we seriously do have to get going." Draco ran off down the tunnel and Hermione followed.

"Draco why do we have to hurry?" Hermione managed to say. Draco looked back at her as he ran with a quizzical look on his face. He decided that she was being serious and decided to answer her question.

"More and more snow will be banking up behind those stone walls. The pressure will build up and the walls will eventually crumble."

"Oh…" Hermione whispered. 'How stupid am I!? Im supposed to be the smartest student at Hogwarts and I couldn't even work that one out. I just made a complete fool of myself.' Hermione thought to herself. Draco laughed. He stopped; a few paces in front of her.

"What's so funny?" Hermione shot at him.

"You… I bet you were beating yourself up for asking that dumb question just then." Draco laughed some more. Hermione stopped and poked him hard in the chest.

"Don't get cocky Malfoy. I still haven't forgiven you for pulling that mystery man stunt on me." She ran off down the corridor before he could react.

"Why you little!" Draco ran after her. "If I bruise where you poked me your in for it Granger!" He yelled at her. He heard her laughter echo across the walls at him. Draco was a lot fitter then Hermione and he was a lot faster at running then she was. Of course he'd be stronger than her, he went to the gym for 2 hours every day without fail. He started to sprint after her, he felt his muscles tighten as he hadn't warmed up. He came to a divide in the tunnels. Hermione was standing there. She looked back at him as he slowed down to stop next to her.

"Where now?" She looked worried. Draco hugged her with one arm around her shoulders.

"My father owns this hotel. I know every room and every secret passage off by heart. I spend every Christmas holiday here." Draco looked at Hermione. He scratched his head. "I ramble don't I…" Hermione laughed.

"I don't mind listening…" It was an awkward moment. They were both finding it hard to adjust being there together. Knowing who one and other were. Being on talking friendly basis. Hermione just smiled up at him.

"Oh damn this…" Draco said and he pulled Hermione close to him and kissed her fiercely. Hermione melted into the kiss. She wrapped her arms around him. Draco pushed her up against the wall and continued to kiss her. Hermione screamed.

"The wall is cold." She laughed as Draco wrapped his coat around her and started to kiss her again. Suddenly Draco parted his lips from hers and looked down the corridor the way that they had come.

"What-" Hermione started but Draco put his finger up to her lips and she went silent instantly. "What is it?" She whispered into his ear.

"Some one is coming…" He whispered back.

** * **

"Who's the note from Harry?" Ron asked.

"Oh yeah. I forgot about the letter." Harry fumbled with the wax seal and finally got the letter open. He read it. When he finished he slumped back into his chair and covered his face with his hands. Ron looked at Harry and then at the letter. He picked it up and read it aloud.

"_Harry,_

            I'm currently at Grimmauld Place, as you would know. Some of the Order is here as well. Well what is left of the Order anyway. I know that last year you were concerned about people not informing you about things and how Dumbledore was treating you like a child. Harry; help me out here. I'm doing my best to treat you the way Sirius would. He would tell you what's happening and what is expected of you. He'd help you reach the standard that is expected

_            So here it goes. I received a visit from Professor McGonagall. She claims that Dumbledore is doubting our… your chances of winning. I stood by you all the way. I think I might have over acted a little but that is another story. I've been doing some thinking. Harry I'd like you to come to your Godfather's home to stay. Not for a long time. Just so I can teach you a few things, so that your present for a meeting that is coming up etc._

_            Harry I need you to reply A.S.A.P. This is serious. The time is coming when you will have to face Voldemort and it is crucial that you're ready. I'm depending on you Harry. We're all depending on you. Harry please think rationally about this._

_                                                                                    R. Lupin._"

"Woah…" That was all Ron could say. "Shit Harry. What are you going to do?"

"I DON'T FUCKING KNOW!" Harry yelled right in Ron's face. Ron was shocked at Harry's outburst of anger. "Everyone is depending on me! The pressure is unbearable. The nightmares are getting worse and now my scar burns constantly. I can't keep up with my studies; I'm failing most of my subjects! Dumbledore is STILL keeping things from me! He doesn't even believe I can handle Voldemort. I've faced him almost every year since starting at Hogwarts. How's this year any different! And now LUPIN is trying to take Sirius' place!" Harry was really angry. Ron's face had gone red from a mixture of embarrassment at being yelled at and anger; because Harry had taken it out on him.

"HARRY! Lupin isn't trying to take Sirius' place. He is just trying to help you!" Ron tried to reason.

"NO Ron! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! No one could EVER replace Sirius! And I wish Lupin would stop trying!" Harry got up and stormed up into the boy's dorms. Ron sat amazed at what had just happened. He looked up and standing in the doorway of the common room was Ginny. He stared at her.

"How long have you been there?"

"I came in whilst you were reading the letter from Lupin… Don't be mad Ron… Harry doesn't mean to take it out on you." Ron was grateful for his younger sisters comfort. Ginny went over and sat next to Ron.

"We have to try and see it from Harry's point of view. Can you imagine what he is going through right now? We have to be there for him, support him. Even when Dumbledore has given up on him!" Ron noticed that the last sentence was filled with malice.  Ron hugged his little sister. He hated to admit it but he really did love his sister.

"Do you think I should go up and see if he is okay?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah that might be an idea." Ginny smiled a halfhearted smile and headed for the boys dorms. When she reached Harry's door she knocked. There was no reply. So she knocked again. Yet again no reply.

"Harry?" She called through the door. No reply. "Harry im coming in now." Ginny opened the door. She glanced into the room. She looked to her left; he wasn't at his desk or by the window. She looked to her right, and what she saw made her scream.

** * **

 She couldn't hear anything, no voices no footsteps; nothing. Hermione was frightened by the look on Draco's face. His face had gone stone grey and he looked serious. It scared her. He pulled away from her and moved to the other side of the corridor. She stood alone on the left side of the corridor. She only just noticed how cold it was. She was only wearing a Singlet top and a skirt. Goosebumps exploded all over her skin. She shivered a deep shiver. She looked over at Draco; he was looking at her with concerned eyes. In a few strides he was back next to her.

"Hermione I need you to do something for me." He whispered into her ear. She was near tears; she hadn't seen Draco look so worried and serious at the same time. Draco kissed her face feverently. "Please don't cry, you don't need to worry."

"Why are you acting like this? What's wrong?"

"Only my father and I know these passages… and my father is back at home…" Hermione was quiet.

"There is something you're not telling me." Draco sighed.

"I cant fool you can I…"

"No you cant…"  
"Death Eaters use these passages. They go everywhere… and I mean everywhere…" Hermione let out a trembling breath.

"I can't hear anyone though…"

"This person is on a broom… a Nimbus 2000 by the sound of it."

"What do I have to do?" Hermione sure was on the ball, ready for anything. Draco was grateful for that.

"I need you to go down that corridor." He pointed to the corridor to the far right. "Keep following it until you come to the end. There is a gap in the bricks, slide your fingers in and pull and the wall should open. That'll let you into a bungalow in Zermatt. That's where all the hotel guests will be vacated too. And you'll find your parents there." Hermione nodded as she mentally remembered the instructions.

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked looking into his eyes. He kissed her.

"Don't worry. I'll keep in touch." He took off his coat and put it around her. Hermione looked at him.

"Go!" He whispered hurriedly. She turned and ran down the corridor. She pulled her wand from her pocket.

"_Lumos_" She whispered and a green flame flickered from her wand lighting the tunnel ahead of her. She continued to run until her feet started to hurt. It felt like she had been running for hours but it had only been a matter of minutes. Finally she came to the end of the tunnel.

"Where the hell is the gap?" She said aloud as she ran her hands across the walls. She finally found the gap; she nearly broke a few fingers when they got caught as she ran her hands along the wall. She pulled. The wall didn't budge. She pulled again. It didn't work.

"Oh stuff this. _Alohamora._" She tapped the wall with her wand and it heaved open. She smiled to herself at how smart she was. She slid through and she was in an alleyway. She ran down the alleyway to the street. There was the bungalow with people crowding around it. Hermione saw her parents wandering aimlessly through the crowd.

"MUM! DAD!" Hermione ran to them. The three of them embraced in a hug.

"Oh Hermione we thought we had lost you!" Her mother showered her in kisses. Her father gave her a loving pat on the back. Hermione's parents were gathered with the rest of the crowd talking about their trek from the hotel after the alarm had gone off, drinking hot beverages and sharing rugs for warmth. Her eyes roamed across the many faces. She couldn't see Draco anywhere.

"Hermione dear. You look frozen to the bone. Come along. Your father has booked us a room in another hotel. We'll be on a plane home to England tomorrow evening." Hermione's mother took her by the arm and pulled her along up the street. Even when they were quite a distance away from the crowd Hermione was still looking for Draco's white blonde hair amongst the crowd of brunettes and regular blondes.

** * **

Ginny screamed and ran over to the collapsed Harry on the floor of his room. He didn't look good at all. She touched his face with her hand, he was cold. She even tried to find a pulse in his wrist and neck but she couldn't find one. She screamed again, she was near hysterics when Ron appeared in the doorway and saw his best friend collapsed on the floor.

"RON! Oh my God!" Ginny was crying. Ron ran from the room immediately. Ginny lay down next to Harry and stroked his cheek. She started to sing quietly to him. Every now and then she would stop and whisper to Harry.

"Shhhh… its ok. Everything will be okay. Don't worry Harry. I'm here…" She would whisper. Tears continued to trickle down her face. Ron finally came back with Madame Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape. The nurse bent down to check Harry's pulse. She gasped and summoned a stretcher. She lifted Harry onto the stretcher and led him to the Hospital Wing. As Harry left the room on the stretcher Ginny sat up and started to wail.

"Where are you taking him? STOP IT! Bring him back! Noooo!" She screamed and cried. "HARRY! Haaaaarrrrrryyyy!!!!" She started to rock back and forth. Ron stood staring.

"W-what's wrong with my sister? What has happened t-to her?" He stuttered.

"She is traumatised. I think it was the shock of seeing Harry like that…" McGonagall explained as she helped Ginny off the floor and pulled her into a warm embrace. "Come child." She held a weeping Ginny's hand and led her to Dumbledore's office, Snape followed. He stopped at the door.

"Are you coming Weasley?"

"In a minute. I think I need to sit down." Ron walked in a daze into the common room and plonked himself down in a chair. He buried his face in his hands. He waited until Snape had left; he jumped up out of the chair. 'Damn I'm good at faking a sickie.' He thought to himself. He got a piece of parchment, quill and an inkbottle from the desk drawer. He sat down and wrote a hurried letter.

"_Harry got letter. Something is wrong with him, sick? Taken to hospital wing. Suggest you come immediately. Harry angry with your letter, not good sign. Regards, Ron Weasley._"

He grabbed Pig who was hovering above his head and tied the letter to her leg.

"Take it to Professor Lupin. QUICKLY!" He tossed the tiny owl out the window and slammed it behind him. He turned and ran out of the room; he headed for the Hospital Wing. Ginny had to wait, Harry was more important at the moment.

** * **

Hermione sat at the window seat of the aeroplane. She watched countryside whiz by beneath her and wisps of cloud dance across the aeroplane's wings. Her eyelids started to lower, she hadn't slept very well last night and she was up and 3am the previous night. Her eyelids sagged lower and lower. Until she fell into a silent sleep. She dreamed of Draco, and Hogwarts. She dreamed of her friends; Harry, Ron and Ginny.

"RON! Oh my God!" Someone screamed. It was dark. Hermione couldn't see anything. "Who is it? What's happening?" Hermione called out to the darkness. Wind started whizzing all around her and her surroundings came instantly into focus. The first thing she saw was Harry. He was lying on the floor. It looked like Harry was dead. Hermione ran over to him and started shaking him. "Harry, harry wake up!" Hermione was nearly crying. Then she noticed Ginny, lying on the floor beside Harry stroking his face. She was singing softly. "Ginny! Quick! Go get help!" Ginny hadn't even ignoledged she was there. "GINNY!" She screamed at the distraught girl. "She can't hear me…" Hermione whispered. Ron came bursting into the room with McGonagall, Snape and the school nurse. The nurse took Harry away on a stretcher. Hermione ran after them all the way to the hospital wing. The nurse and Harry went through the door and closed it behind them before Hermione could follow. She put out her hand to open the door but she went straight through the door. Hermione watched as she slowly inched more and more of her body through the door. Nearly half of her body was through the door when a sensation ripped her through the door and into the hospital wing. It was like gravity pulling her through the solid object. Harry lay on a hospital bed and the nurse sat in a chair next to him with her face buried in her hands. She was crying. "Oh no, please god no." Hermione ran over to Harry. She checked his pulse. There was nothing. "No… Harry…" Hermione began to cry. She climbed onto the bed beside Harry, rested her head on his chest and cried. All of a sudden Ron burst into the Hospital Wing with Dumbledore close behind him.

"He's gone…" The nurse wept. Dumbledore closed his eyes and his head lowed so it was facing the floor. Ron just stood there, his face was pale. Hermione wanted to run over and hug him but she knew it wouldn't make a difference. Hermione got off the bed and bent forward so she was looking down at Harry's clammy cold face. She leant closer and whispered. "Your with your parents now." She kissed his on his lips and suddenly it was like all the breath was being sucked out of her. And it was Harry who was sucking it from her. It was like he was draining her oxygen, her blood and her energy. She couldn't pull away. Her lips were locked to his. Hermione was getting weak, and dark clouds were starting to cover her eyesight. Pain shot all over her body and excruciating exhaustion was taking over. All Hermione wanted to do was to sleep, a deep peaceful sleep and never wake up. Harry sat bolt up right so quickly Hermione's lips were separated from his and she flew backwards across the room, and landing hard on the floor. Harry was sitting bold up right gasping for air. And Hermione lay on the floor. She smiled and gave in to the overcoming temptation to sleep.

** * **

Ron ran down the hallway towards the hospital wing. He reached the doors and Dumbledore was there already, he was in the middle of opening the door and Ron dashed in-between the gap before Dumbledore even had a chance to stop him or even get into the room.

"He's gone…" Madame Pomfrey wailed. She was sitting in the chair beside Harry's bed. Ron stopped dead. He stared at his best friend lying on the bed before him. He was dead. Ron heard a voice whisper yet it was strangely familiar. He thought that the voice said "Your with your parents now." But he couldn't be sure. He erased it from his memory as a hallucination from shock.

Before Ron could react to his friends sudden and un-explained death Harry sat bolt upright gasping for air. His hands gripped the sides of the bed; his knuckles were white from how tight his grip was. He was gasping for air, choking and coughing. He looked around the room. His eyes were wide and scared.

"Hermione!" Was the first thing he managed to say. The nurse jumped from her seat. She pushed Harry back so he was lying flat on his back. She hurried around the ward collecting bottles of medicine and other bits and pieces. Dumbledore walked over to the bed and sat down.

"Its okay Harry. I need you to relax and let Madame Pomfrey work her magic. But I need you to tell me. What happened up in your dorm?"

"Where's Hermione!? Is she okay!?" Harry yelled.

"Harry… dude, Hermione isn't here. She never was. She is on holidays remember?" Ron walked over to the bed and sat beside Dumbledore.

"Harry, please concentrate… what happened?" Harry looked at the roof.

"I… I don't remember."

"Hmm…"

"Harry, I'm your best friend. And I can tell when your lying." Harry gave Ron a look that would kill. "Im sorry mate, but this is important. Tell Dumbledore the truth. Please…" Ron never begged, but he did now.

"I was in my dorm and I was getting something from the drawers in the bedside table. I heard a noise behind me. I turned around and there was a figure wearing a black cloak, I couldn't see their face. I tried to talk but I couldn't speak. They put their hand over my face and gripped my skull really tight. I remember pain and I blacked out. That's all I remember." He finished shortly.

"Okay. Thank you Harry." Dumbledore stood and left the Hospital Wing.

"Ron! Why'd you have to go and do that?"

"Harry I had to! This is important!"

"I'll never forgive you!"

"Fine! Don't forgive me! I can live with that, but I couldn't live with myself if I didn't make you tell Dumbledore what really happened!" Harry was quiet.

"I'm sorry Ron. I didn't mean it. And I didn't mean to take everything out on you back up in the common room." Harry said so quietly it was almost a whisper.

"Its alright mate." Ron said holding out his hand. Harry took it and they shook hands. Harry smiled.

"One more thing…" Ron asked.

"What?"  
"Why were you so concerned about Hermione?"

"I…don't worry about it." Ron just looked at Harry. "Oh okay. I dreamed that Hermione was there and that she saved me. I thought I killed her, I took so much of her life I really thought I killed her! I know it probably sounds like I'm crazy…"

"Naa, your not crazy. As you said, it was a dream."

"Right Mr. Weasley. Out of my ward! I have a very ill patient to attend too! He needs first class care! Out… go on! Out with you!" Madame Pomfrey said as she bustled Ron out of the Hospital wing, closing and locking the door behind her.

** * **

"Hermione…" Mr. Granger shook his daughter. She stirred but only slightly. She was very cold.

"Here," Mrs. Granger handed her husband a blanket. He wrapped it around his daughter, lifted her up out of the aeroplane seat and carried her off. He carried her to the arrival lounge where he laid her on one of the lounges. The airport medics were there and managed to waken Hermione with a needle containing some kind of liquid. She was really drowsy.

"D-dad? Mum?" Hermione murmured as she came around.

"Yes Darling. Daddy and I are here." Her mother said gently. Hermione's father lifted her again and carried her to the taxi that was awaiting them outside the Heathrow Airport.

"Its okay, we'll be home soon sweet heart." Her father said to her whilst her head rested in his lap in the back of the cab.

** * **

//A.N- Sorry this chappy is abit crap. I rushed it a little. Abit of a weird chappy aye? Oh well… oh hey, go to my website _www.freewebs.com/bottled_devotion/_ I'd love to get to know some of you! Thnx to all of my reviewers for your nice comments! *grins* I don't know how long it'll be before the next chapter. So please bear with me. 3 Peta //


	6. Chapter Six

The Price of a World

Chapter Six

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"Albus! Where's Harry?" The headmaster looked up from the paper on his desk. He looked at his visitor through the glass in his half moon glasses; his old grey eyes no longer contained that twinkle.

"Remus he's fine. Now please… be seated. We must talk."

"I'm sorry Headmaster. I _must_ see Harry…" Dumbledore sighed.

"Okay Remus. He is with Madame Pomfrey." Lupin nodded and left the headmasters office. 

** * **

Hermione was asleep in her bed. The sun was rising, and ray of light crept through the curtain and into Hermione's bedroom. Within minutes the sun and fully penetrated the curtain and showered her room in morning light. The birds outside in the tress sung their morning songs, the neighbours dogs barked as the morning postman did his rounds. Below her window her father mowed the front lawn whilst her mother pondered over her rose bushes. 

Still half asleep Hermione clambered from the warmth of her bed over to the chair in which her dressing gown lay. She wandered mindlessly down the stairs and into the kitchen where she made herself some breakfast. She usually sat inside at the kitchen bench and ate but today she felt like eating outdoors. So she carried her bowl of cereal out onto the back porch. She sat herself down at the outdoor table. She was about to take a mouthful of cereal when an eagle swooped at her head. She screamed and ducked. The eagle circled and landed on the table. It was holding a beautiful red rose in its beak. Hermione took the rose from its mouth. The eagle then prodded Hermione's arm with its foot. A letter was tied to its leg. She undid the string and opened the letter.

_Dear Hermione,_

_                        This is Lucifer. I told him to be nice, but be sure to tell me if he was a little rude or bad tempered. He will await a reply. I can't see you again until school starts. My father is making me stay here; I have duties to the Dark Lord. You know… It really baffles me; your values and beliefs are totally different to mine yet we are drawn to each other. Hermione, I can't begin to explain the complications in our relationship. I'm destined to be a Death Eater and… _

_            I miss you more than anything…_

_                        Always yours,_

_                                                            D. Malfoy._

She smiled. "Hello Lucifer." Hermione petted the eagle's head. "I'll be right back." Hermione went inside and came back minutes later. In her hand was a bag of owl treats, a piece of paper and a pen. She sat at the table and handed the eagle a few owl treats. He ate them happily whilst Hermione replied to the letter. When she had finished she tied her letter to Lucifer's leg and he took flight almost immediately. Hermione sat and watched the eagle fly off into the distance.

** * **

"Lucius. Your son is important to us. You know that!" Voldemort spat.

"Yes master."

" I want him to go to Hogwarts do his mission and come back here at the end of term."

"Yes my lord… When will you be instructing Draco of what he is to do?"

"Soon… very soon… We will have to ensure that he doesn't muck around this term. We need him to concentrate that is why I have asked Miss Parkinson to team up with Draco."

"My Lord… if Draco knows that he is being partnered with a _girl_ to keep an eye on him. I am positive that he will be difficult and won't co-operate."

"Precisely. That is why we won't be telling him." Voldemort laughed an evilly disgusting laugh. "Bring him to me… We need to prepare him. We have only a week till he is to return to Hogwarts." Lucius bowed and left the room.

** * **

Lupin opened the door to the hospital wing and walked in. He walked over to Harry's bed and sat down.

"Hello Harry." Harry turned his head and just looked at Lupin. Lupin got off the chair and went to kneel by Harry's bed. "Harry, I _never_ wanted to take Sirius' place. I never could be to you what Sirius was. And I'm sorry if you ever thought I was trying to do so." Harry glared at Lupin. Before Lupin could move Harry threw his arms around Lupin and cried.

"I miss Sirius… so much!" Harry said as he wipes his eyes on his sleeve.

"We all do Harry… we all do." Lupin stood and was about to leave.

"Lupin, aren't I coming with you to stay at Grimmauld place?" Lupin smiled.

"Of course!"

"Well… can Ron come until the end of the holidays?" Harry looked hopeful. Lupin looked at Harry's excited eyes and sighed.

"Oh alright… Ginny will have to come too though." Harry smiled.

"So when do we leave?"

"As soon as possible I guess." Harry jumped out of bed and collected his things in his arms.

"Give me a second to get my trunk…"

"Uh Harry. You have only just woken from some sort of death. I don't think Madame Pomfrey would be grateful if I dragged you from her care."

"It is okay Lupin. I think it is best that Harry leave the premises. I have come to believe that Hogwarts is no longer safe for Harry. And having him here, may just put the students in danger." Harry didn't dare look or speak to Dumbledore. He was furious with him, Harry had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from saying anything.

"Come Harry… we must leave." Lupin placed his hand on Harry's back and guided him to the exit.

** * **

_My dear Draco,_

_                        I know that you are to be a death eater I also know that you are to become Voldemort's heir. I know more about you then you think. But I won't you to know that I will always love you Draco, no matter who you are or what you become. I miss you too and I look forward to seeing you at Diagon Alley._

_            Love Always,_

_                                    Hermione  xoxo_

Draco read the letter over and over again. He admired her beautiful flowing cursive writing; he could even smell her perfume on the paper. He jumped nearly two feet in the air when a fierce bang sounded on his bedroom door.

"DRACO! Get out here NOW!" It was his father. Draco threw his black robes over top of his clothes, slid his wand into the sleeve pocket and left his room. His father wasn't in sight. But he knew where he was to go. His father and the Dark Lord usually stayed in the dungeon office this time of the morning. He walked down the east wing's main corridor and turned the corner to the grand staircase down into the front hall. At the bottom of the stairs, to his left was the front door and to his right was another corridor leading to the servant's quarters, kitchens, formal dinging room and ballroom.

 He walked straight across the hall and up the staircase on the other side. He turned to the right and then immediately left into the gallery. The gallery was filled with portraits of the Malfoy family. And even famous paintings by famous painters such as Pastel Kreyons. He crossed the room and went under the archway into the room's extension with the more recent paintings. On the back wall of this room hung a tapestry of the Malfoy Family tree. Draco drew the tapestry aside to reveal a rort iron door. He punched in the sequence and the door slid open. Once Draco was through the door slammed closed with such force bits of limestone crumbled from the ceiling. He was in a stone stairwell that descended into the depths below Malfoy manner. Draco took off down the stairs three at a time. It was cold in the stairwell, but Draco was used to the cold, dark damp dungeons at Hogwarts. Water seeped from the limestone walls whilst moss and fungi that had developed on the wall engulfed even drop. It got colder as the stairs plummeted deeper. They ended in an underground courtyard. The office was off to the left. But to Draco's right, were many corridors, tunnels, dungeon cells, rooms, courtyards and secret passages. And Draco knew every, single, one. 

"Draco! Stop daydreaming and get in there!" It was his father; he was standing waiting for him outside the office door. Draco walked over to Lucius.

"Sorry Father." Draco bowed his head and entered the room. There was new furniture and the stone floor was covered in a Persian rug. The walls were decked with shelves containing bottles with liquids or strange looking creatures inside. There were strange instruments and books, lots of books. There were single lounge chairs by the fireplace; the fireplace was lit. It was the first time Draco had ever seen it lit.

"Draco. Sit." Draco did as he was told. He sat in the spare seat by the fire. He looked at the floor.

"Draco, you know what is wanted of you."

"Yes master. I do."

"And you know that you have no choice in the matter."

"Sir never have I regretted the destiny you have chosen for me."

"You will be going back to school in a matter of days will you not?"

"Yes sir. School starts in 6 days."

"This is your seventh year at Hogwarts." He didn't give Draco a chance to agree. "And at the end of this year, you are old enough to be bestowed with the Dark Mark." Draco smirked.

"I am looking forward to the day master."

"It will be a grand night. A celebration of course. For my son is being conducted into the inner ring." Voldemort looked utterly pleased with himself and Draco.

"Whilst you're at school, there is a little operation I'd like you to undertake."

"Yes?"

"Watch your tongue in front of the Dark Lord Draco." Lucius warned. Draco hadn't realised he was there behind him. Voldemort sneered.

"Draco pay attention to me. I want you to watch Potter. He is weak, we didn't expect him to pull through…"

"Pull through?"

"We visited our friend the other day. The Dark Lord used his powers to… well shock his brain really. Sent his brain into temporary relapse. It was supposed to make it look like he was dead. And then they'd bury or even better; cremate him. And he'd be out of our hair." Lucius said with complete malice. "But some how he slipped through and survived…"

"Stupid Potter. Never was good at anything…" Draco smirked and Voldemort laughed hoarsely.

"We have a comedian here Lucius." Lucius Malfoy shot a deadly look at Draco. Draco knew he was in for it when Voldemort had left.

"His duty at Hogwarts my lord…"

"Yes, Draco you need to keep an eye on Potter. He is weak. I want you to find his weak points, get him where it hurts."

"Yes Sir. I understand."

"Good. You may go now Draco." Draco stood and walked to the door. His father followed.

"No Lucius. We must talk, organise what we are to do with Crabbe, Goyle and Zambini." Draco didn't want to get caught up in the conversation and left as quickly as possible. He ran the whole way to his bedroom and to his wardrobe. He opened the wardrobe door and there lying across two hooks was his broom. He removed it, threw open his window and took off his robes. He put his black pants and suede evergreen shirt on. He mounted his broom, kicked off and flew out the window.

** * **

"RON! Ron!" Ron came running down from his dorm.

"HARRY!" Ron ran over to Harry and hugged him. "Ginny! Gin look it's Harry!"

"Hello Ron."

"LUPIN! You came!" Lupin just smiled as Ginny came running at full speed down the staircase.

"Harry!" She ran and jumped on Harry. Her legs latched around his middle and she hugged him hard. "Harry your alright!"

"Uhh…" Harry was so shocked at Ginny's reaction. He was glad Hermione wasn't here, she'd be so jealous. Suddenly Ginny realised what she was doing and threw herself off him faster then she had jumped on him. She went redder then Ron's flame red hair.

"Ron, Ginny. Pack your trunks. You're coming with Harry and I to Grimmauld place for the remainder of the holidays."

"Give me five minutes." Ginny dashed back up the stairs to her dorm.

"_Accio Trunk_" Ron's trunk came flying into the room; nearly hitting Lupin over the head and landed with a thud on the floor. "I packed coz I knew Lupin would let us come with you Harry." Harry laughed. In four thuds Ginny's trunk landed at the bottom of the stairs with Ginny close behind.

"Ready." She said standing up and dusting her clothes off.

"Right then, come along." Lupin led the three children to the road leading up to the front of the school. There stood the same carriage that took Hogwarts students from Hogsmead Station to the castle doors. Harry, Ginny, Lupin and Ron all boarded the carriage. As soon as the door closed it set off.

"Where are we going?" Ginny asked.

"I'm feeling lazy so we are getting a carriage to the post office. From there we will use the fireplace to get back to the Black Residence."

"Why the post office?" Harry asked.

"Because we have a member of the order working there undercover. We suspect there to be Death Eaters checking all mail that goes through." All three children 'Ooooh'ed at the same time. When they arrived at the post office Lupin held the door open for the trio. It was warm inside the post office. It was decked with Christmas decorations. It even had little elves that sung a Christmas carol every time someone entered the shop. Lupin walked up to the counter and pressed the buzzer for assistance. A lady came waddling out of the post owlery.

"May I help you Sir?"

"Is it safe?" Lupin whispered.

"Yeah, come through. He is on lunch break." The lady let them through via the side door. She ushered them into a small room. There was a fridge, table, a few chairs and a fireplace. Lupin drew a sack of floo powder from his robes.

"Come along, take a hand full. You first Ginny." Ginny threw her handful of powder into the fireplace and got in immediately after.

"Number 12 Grimmauld place." And she was gone. Ron went and then Lupin. Leaving Harry to last. He smiled at the lady, threw down his powder and disappeared in a flicker of green flames.

** * **

Hermione was lying on her bed reading when a clatter came from the small veranda outside her window. She got up and went to the door and looked out. There standing on her veranda was Draco. She hurled the door open and ran over to him.

"Draco!" He smirked at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello to you too, no kiss?" Hermione laughed and planted a kiss on his lips. Draco kissed her back harder; he missed the last of her lips and the smell of her body.

"Draco my parents are here…"

"Yeah I know… they are out the front, and we are at the back…" Draco smirked. "Come for a ride with me." Hermione stared at him.

"Uhh… Draco…"

"Don't like flying?" Hermione shook her head slowly. "Well now's the time to start liking it." Before Hermione could object Draco scooped her up in his arms, mounted the broom and pushed off. Hermione screamed and clung onto Draco's shirt. Draco just laughed and soared up higher. Butterflies whizzed around inside Hermione's stomach. She had never been so terrified in her life. Draco went higher and higher right above the clouds. He slowed and then levelled out.

"Oh wow…" Hermione sighed. The view was amazing. All around then was puffy white clouds. That swirled into pearly masses. Below them was London and the lush countryside that surrounded the capital city. "Oh Draco its gorgeous." Draco was silent. Hermione looked into his eyes. He was thinking.

"What are you thinking about?" Hermione poked his chest gently. It seemed to break him out of his trance.

"Oh…" Draco smirked. "Just thinking about how beautiful you are…" Hermione laughed.

"Yeah I'll believe that when pigs fly…" Draco looked shocked. He leaned forward and kissed her. His kiss sent the chills across her body. She loved his kisses. His tongue dishevelled with hers.  They gasped for air and their lips found each other once more.

"Draco I had better get back, if my parents come looking for me and im not at home they'll flip."

"A few more minutes…" Draco tried to kiss her again but she turned her cheek.

"Draco…"

"Oh okay… hold on." Draco smirked and nosedived towards the ground. Hermione screamed as she felt her bottom leave the broom, she clung onto Draco like her life depended on it.

"Draco! You're going to paaay for this!" She screamed as he dived, spiralled upwards and jolted back down again. Draco just laughed. He came to a halt back at the veranda outside Hermione's bedroom. He careful set her down on the ground. She swayed a little but Draco held up upright. He kissed her cheek gently.

"I love you…" Hermione whispered in his ear. He kissed her cheek, and zoomed off. 

** * **

"He's been gone a long time… maybe there is something wrong Harry."

"Maybe Dumbledore wont let him leave."

"Or Harry might have fallen down a hole, broken his leg. Blood sprayed everywhere and lupin fainted. We need to go out and help them!" George always let his imagination run away with him.

"Or he could just be enjoying his time away from you lot…" Moody grumbled. Charlie, Fred and George sat at the kitchen table tossing ideas around about why Lupin was taking so long. Before the three boys had a chance to retaliate against Moody's remark Lupin, Ginny, Ron and Harry bundled out of the fireplace and landed in a heap. Charlie and George went over and helped them all up. The five Weasley children hugged and chattered at each other. Lupin went and made a new pot of tea.

"Harry Potter. Long time aye?" Harry smiled.

"Moody!" Harry and Moody shook hands.

"Harry!" The twins said in unison.

"Fred, George!" They laughed and talked about the joke shop and new tricks they had come up with.

"We meet again Harry…"

"Hello Charlie. Still working on the dragons?"

"Naw, we had to hid them. Didn't want the dragons getting into the wrong hands you know? Over heard Mum and Dad talking about the Order and I joined."  
"Harry, Ron your room is on the second level. Ginny yours is on the third. Buckbeak is still up in the attic. I'd avoid that area, Buckbeak isn't all that happy these days…"

"I don't blame him…" Harry whispered. Ron and Ginny followed Harry up to their rooms. When Harry and Ron reached their room their trunks were at the ends of their beds waiting for them. Harry unpacked his clothes into the wardrobe but Ron kept his in his trunk.

"Why aren't you unpacking?"

"I prefer to keep my clothes in my trunk. Plus I'm only here for a few days. Harry you could be here for another month… it all depends if you're ready."

"Don't worry Ron. I'll be going back with you on the Hogwarts Express."

Three simultaneous bangs came from the room above them. Bits of paint chipped and fluttered to the ground then the light swayed vigorously.

"Buckbeak…" Ron muttered. "Im starving. I'm going down for lunch. You coming?"  
"I have to finish unpacking. I'll be down in a sec." Ron shrugged and left the room.

** * **


	7. Chapter Seven

The Price of a World

Chapter Seven

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Harry waited until he heard Ron and Ginny close the door to the kitchen below. He crept up the stairs and up to the landing outside the attic door. His hand rested on the door handle. He turned it slowly and opened the door.

"Buckbeak?" Harry whispered. He slinked in and closed the door. Buckbeak was lying in the corner of the room clawing the floor. Harry inched over; when Buckbeak laid eyes on Harry he stopped. Harry looked right in Buckbeak's eyes, he wasn't going to break eye contact. Slowly he bowed keeping his eyes on Buckbeak the whole time. He waited. Buckbeak rose and advanced towards Harry. He looked furious. Harry didn't move, he knew that if he moved it would be considered rude and he would be lucky to get out of the attic alive. Buckbeak came closer and closer. He sniffed the air and huffed. His head lowered, the beast bowed. Harry rose and petted the animal.

"I bet you miss Sirius…" Harry whispered and in return the animal whined. Harry stroked the animal affectionately. He put both his arms around Buckbeak's neck and hugged him. He buried his head amongst the mass of feathers and fur. Buckbeak nibbled at Harry's collar. He laughed and reached into his pocket. He withdrew a few cracker biscuits and gave them to the animal. A knock at the front door rung through out the house. Harry frowned and left the room. He took the stairs two at a time all the way down to the front door. Lupin was there already.

"Wait Harry…"

"Why?"

"We don't know who it is… we weren't expecting anyone today."

** * **

"_Hermione,_

_                        I heard that you were home early. Harry, Ron and Ginny are staying here with me for the remainder of the holidays. I'm inviting you as well.  I'm sure Harry misses you and you him. Please reply with your answer,_

_                                                                                                            R. Lupin_

Hermione read the letter. 'I forgot all about Harry.' She thought. 'Some girlfriend I am…'

"Mother! I'm going to stay with Harry and Ron for the remainder of the holidays." She called out.

"Okay dear. I'll drive you in half an hour." Hermione started packing everything into her trunk.

Within an hour she was standing on the doorstep of 12 Grimmauld place. She knocked at the door gently as not to wake Mrs. Blacks' portrait. She heard whispers from inside.

"Lupin? Lupin its Hermione." The door opened. There stood Harry and Lupin. Harry had a smile across his face from ear to ear.

"Hermione!" Hermione ran into Harry's embrace. Lupin collected Hermione's trunk, brought it inside and closed the door. By now everyone was in the hallway.

"HARRY YOUR ALRIGHT!" Hermione kissed him.

"Everyone back down stairs…" Lupin whispered.

"Why?" Ron enquired.

"Let the love birds have a few minutes together…" Charlie whispered and shoved his brother back down into the kitchen. When everyone was gone Harry spoke.

"What do you mean I'm alright?"

"Oh Harry I had the worst night mare. That you almost died, and that I saved you but I almost died. Harry it was terrible!" Hermione snuggled into Harry. He rested his hand on Hermione's cheek. Harry leaned down and started to kiss Hermione long and slow on the lips. Hermione pulled away instantly when she realised Harry was kissing her. 

"Hermione what's the matter?"

'Oh shit… He's supposed to kiss me. Shit shit shit. I can't kiss him, its too awkward. Oh my god, I kissed him before! Draco's kissing is so different to Harry's. Harry's is sloppy compared to Draco's.' She thought.

"Hermione? Are you okay? What's wrong?" Harry pulled Hermione in closer to him.

"I missed you so much, and I don't know. I just… the dream felt so real…" Harry knew what she was talking about. He _had_ almost died and he had dreamt that Hermione had saved him. So it obviously wasn't a dream. The thought confused and scared Harry and he thought it best not to mention it. Harry was silent and Hermione felt as if she had seriously hurt his feelings. She knew Harry needed her support more than anything at the moment. And she didn't want to break his heart right before his life or death battle against Voldemort. Hermione reached up and kissed him gently on the lips. 'Forgive me…' She thought to herself. Harry kissed her back and instantly forgot about Hermione's strange behaviour. 

"Come on! Ron, Ginny, Charlie, Fred, George and Moody are here!" Harry took her by the hand and pulled her down the hallway and into the kitchen. Everyone greeted Hermione with a warm smile and friendly conversation. The grandfather clock struck five pm.

"Five, four, three, two…" Lupin counted down. "One." Tonks shot out of the fireplace.

"Hello everyone," She said getting up and dusting herself off. "My golly. We have visitors. Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Harry. Hello all."

"Tonks!" they all exclaimed. Everyone loved Tonks; she was funny, exuberant and bubbly. She was just a fun person to be around. She smiled her big goofy smile, which made Ginny giggle.

"Work was hell today!" She explained.

"Oh?" Lupin looked surprised. "How so?"

"Percy is just being a pain in the arse. Still carrying on about how everyone is unprepared. How we should've listened to Crouch right from the beginning."

"That's Percy for you…" Charlie added.

"Oh im so sorry. I didn't mean any disrespect towards your family…" Charlie laughed.

"No harm done, he doesn't want to be a-part of our family so why should we take offence to his bullsh - "

"CHARLIE! Percy is out brother! Don't you ever talk about him like that! Everyone does bad things and makes mistakes. So don't hold a grudge." Ginny warned her oldest brother. Ron, Fred and George muffled their laughter.

"Right well… how does a chicken roast sound?" Lupin asked cheerily.

"Sounds great…" Moody said. Everyone was given a chore to do to help out with dinner. Once they all got their acts together dinner was on the table and the 10 friends all sat down to an enjoyable meal. Harry admitted to himself that it was the happiest time he had had since Sirius had gone.

** * **

A few days had passed. Starting at 10am Lupin, Harry and Moody would lock themselves away in the office. No one saw them until 4pm when Harry's lesson was over. Harry never told anyone about what they did in there, either did Lupin or Moody. Harry wasn't the same since he had started his lessons. He became extremely tired, he was irritated easily and he was very serious and quiet. Charlie was given a job to do at the Three Broomsticks. It was kept secret between Lupin, Moody, Tonks and Charlie. But what Harry could gather Charlie was to spend all day everyday for a week sitting in a cloak keeping a low profile. He was to listen into strange conversations and catch any rumours or information from Death Eaters whom drunk there. Tonks of course went to work at the Ministry and didn't get home till late afternoon. Fred and George stayed for the first few days but they got bored and went back to work at their Joke Shop. So it was only Ron, Ginny and Hermione left. They spent their time reading, playing card games or playing with the lonely Buckbeak up in the attic. One morning Hermione woke early. The sun had only just risen. Ginny was still sound asleep. She tiptoed down the stairs, past Harry and Ron's room. She could hear Ron's snoring. She continued down the next flight of stairs. Down the hallway and into the kitchen. It shocked her when she saw Tonks sitting at the table dressed drinking a cup of coffee. Today Tonks' hair was blonde. She suited being a blonde; maybe that was her natural hair colour?

"Morning Hermione." She looked up and smiled.

"Morning Tonks. Your up early."

"Have to be for work. I could say the same thing about you… Didn't you sleep well?"

"I always get up early. It's a habit I guess."

"Hmm…" Tonks drained the rest of her coffee. She put the mug in the sink. "Oh, and you received a letter this morning. A gorgeous eagle dropped it off." Tonks drew a letter from out of her robes and handed it to Hermione. "Your lucky I was the only one awake, its not every day one of _us_ receives a letter containing a D. Malfoy crested wax seal." Tonks winked at her and dissapperated with a loud pop. Hermione stood shocked.

'Oh god. Tonks knows about Draco and me. Oh no… she wouldn't tell anyone, would she?' Hermione thought to herself. She looked down at the letter in her hand. She sat down at the table and read.

"_Hermione, _

_            I want to meet you in London. I need to tell you something._

_                                                                                                Draco."_

Hermione looked at the letter. Her heart was torn between Draco and Harry. She scrunched up the letter and threw it into the fire. She sat and watched the paper brown, shrivel, blacken and burn into ashes. Hermione made herself some breakfast and curled up in a chair by the fire in the lounge room and read. The clock chimed 9am and the clatter of feet on the floor above told her that Harry, Ginny, Ron, Lupin and Moody were awake. Hermione got out of her chair to greet them in the kitchen. One by one they came thumping down the stairs and into the kitchen. All but Lupin.

"Where's Lupin?" Hermione enquired.

"He has to meet with Dumbledore today." Moody answered, Hermione had their breakfasts ready and she sat and watched as they devoured it.

"Harry what do you say to starting your training now? And you can get it over and done with, be finished that extra hour early?" Moody asked.

"Yeah sounds good."

"Moody can we join in? It's getting extremely boring for us three. You all go off and leave us out." Hermione whined. Moody seemed to consider Hermione's request.

"Alright, but just for today." Ginny, Ron and Hermione all exchanged excited glances with each other and thanked moody profoundly. Harry on the other hand sat quietly.

"Right is everyone ready?" Moody asked.

"Sure are," Ron replied. Moody stood and led the way to the office. Once everyone was inside Moody closed and locked the door.

"Hermione, Ron and Ginny. What you are about to learn is very advanced and extremely strenuous. And everything you see and learn in here is to be kept strictly secret. You are not to use any of the spells until the time if right."

"When will the time be right?" Ginny asked.

"When we are battling Voldemort head to head…" Harry muttered the answer. He sat in the back of the office by the window.

"Right Harry," Signalled Moody. Harry stood and closed the blinds. He pushed the desk and lounge chairs over to the side of the room. He then walked and stood in the middle of the room.

"Okay," A loud clatter came from outside the window. Moody went over, drew back the blinds and opened the window. A large brown owl flew in, it had a letter in his hand. Moody opened it and read.

"Right, I have to go meet Lupin in at the ministry. Some thing has come up. Harry this doesn't mean you stop training. I want you to teach these three what you have learnt already." With out another word Moody dissapperated out of the room.

"Right, do you want to start with defence, attack or- " Harry stopped. "Never mind." Ron was about to ask what the 'or' was but Hermione kicked him in the shins and he stopped.

"Defence will be good for starters Harry." Ginny said as politely as possible.

"Uh okay. Well there is a basic spell that deflects a hex that is thrown at you… Uh I'll show you." Harry took three steps away from Hermione, Ron and Ginny. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He drew his wand.

"_Terpelium!_" A blue mist poured from Harry's wand tip. It clouded together and formed a shield around Harry.

"Oh wow…" Hermione breathed.

"_Telpelium_" Harry said plainly and the shield disappeared. "Usually you wouldn't have to use the finishing spell to get rid of the shield. Once a hex hits it, it will reflect and disappear.

"Right, sounds easy enough." Ron said pulling out his wand.

"NO WAIT! Ron you can't just pull out your wand and have a go. If you get it wrong you could blow this whole room to pieces!" Ron stood shocked.

"Uh okay then. How do you expect us to do the spell if we can even practise it?" Ginny asked sarcastically.

"I'll put a shield around you so if you do screw up it wont tear the room apart…"

"Oh that's great. We can kill ourselves instead." Ron rolled his eyes; he was getting really annoyed at Harry's sudden cocky, know-it-all attitude.

"No, the spell is a defence. It cant hurt you because you're the one who conducted it." Ron felt extremely stupid from that point on and didn't say much after that. Harry put a small shield around Ginny, one around Hermione and one around Ron.

"Okay have a go at it." Hermione got it straight off, hers was a purple colour. It took a while but when Ron got it his shield was red. Ginny on the other hand kept trying and trying. She stood silent for a minute, Hermione watched her. Ginny was breathing heavily. This spell sure was taking a lot out of her. Ginny's head finally rose. Her eyes were filled with determination. She pointed out her wand and screamed the spell. An explosion sounded from inside Ginny's shield. She had created her shield; it was a gorgeous pink colour. Hermione, Harry and Ron stood waiting for the mist to clear so they could see Ginny. When the mist finally cleared Ginny had collapsed on the floor.

"GINNY! _Terpelium!_" The shield disappeared. Harry ran over to Ginny's collapsed body. He touched her forehead. "It's okay. She has just fainted from exhaustion." Harry scooped up Ginny's small, delicate body in his arms and carried her up to her room. He laid her on her bed and went back to the office where Hermione and Ron were waiting.

"Ok if either of you are feeling tired don't persist. Just tell me and we can have a break. Trust me, I had at least four or five breaks when I first started these sort of spells."

"Sure,"

"Okay, how about a heeling spell? It's a little hard. But I'm sure you two could get it."

"What type of heeling?"

"Well… say you have a minor cut or something. It can work on that. But it's mainly for broken or fractured bones. Apparently it's a new spell created by some Italian guy."

"We don't have anyone with a minor cut or broken anything…" Harry just smirked at Hermione. He pointed his wand at his leg and yelled.

"_Kir sereg_" A small crack and Harry's leg was broken. Harry grinded his teeth in pain.__

"Harry! What's the spell! Hurry!" Hermione ran and sat next to him. She tried to comfort him as much as she could. She kissed his face frantically trying to take away his pain. Harry pulled out his wand.

"_Kir tel_" He muttered through grit teeth. And he relaxed as the pain left and his leg healed.

"Jesus Christ Harry don't ever do that to me again." Hermione hugged him. "It scared me seeing you in so much pain." Harry just laughed and stood up. Yeah well _kir tel_ is the healing spell."

"How'd you break you leg like that?" Ron asked amazed.

"Well I know two spells. I can break bones or leaves cuts."

"Coooool…" Ron breathed.

"Honestly, any spell that involves violence and blood interests you Ron." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Hey Ron you want me to teach you?" Harry asked enthusiastically.

"Oh yer!"

"I'll be in the kitchen." Hermione left the two boys to their blood and guts hexes. She walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where she slumped into the nearest chair. It was only when she sat down that she realised how tired she was. She was considering going to sleep when she realised she had to write a reply to Draco. She used a piece of paper from the lounge room desk and a quill she found lying in a box on the kitchen bench.

"_Dear Draco,_

_                        That was a close one. I'm staying with Harry, Ron, Ginny and lots of other people at the moment. I can't say where. It's all about the big battle coming up between Harry and your side. I know there is things you cant tell me about what your side are doing and that's the same with me. One of my friends staying here, Tonks; knows about us now. She got the letter. But it's okay. She won't tell anyone. I can't meet you, im so sorry. I miss you a lot and I'm looking forward to seeing you at Diagon Alley. It might be a problem for me to get away from Harry but I'm still thinking. Love always,_

_                                    Hermione._"

She folded the paper and ran up stairs into Harry's room. She took Hedwig out of her cage and tied the letter to her leg.

"Take this to Draco." She opened the window and let Hedwig fly out and off into the distance.

** * **

//A.N- Heya, im sorry this chapter is abit boring. I promise it'll get better. My story needed this chapter though to explain things. You'll understand later. I know how the rest of the story is going to go, I just have to write it. Enjoy and plz review//


	8. Chapter Eight

The Price of a World

Chapter Eight

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

"Take this to Draco." Hermione opened the window and let Hedwig fly out and off into the distance. She climbed the stairs up to her room and collapsed in exhaustion onto her bed. She rolled over and fell asleep. 

** * **

"Lupin you cannot keep Harry at Grimmauld Place forever! He must go back to school." Tonks persisted.

"Why? I see nothing but danger if he goes back to school!"

"He needs to be under the protection of the 4 founders. He is safest at Hogwarts." Dumbledore explained.

"But Voldemort declares to kill Harry on the grounds of Hogwarts! And the amount of students with Death Eater parents that go to Hogwarts! Anyone of them could be instructed to harm Harry in any way!" Dumbledore sat in silence for a few moments.

"Lupin, I know you don't want to see Harry end up the way his parents did. But you have to let fate decide what will happen to Harry."

"Why don't we just ask him if he wants to go back to school or stay with Lupin?" Moody questioned.

"That's an idea. And what ever his answer is, no one can try to change it. We have to respect his decisions." Tonks concluded.

"Well now that we have all agreed on that can we can all go back to what we were doing." Dumbledore stood and left Tonk's office.

"Coming home with us now Tonks?" Moody enquired.

"Yeah I think I will…" The trio went to the fireplace in the lobby and caught the floo network back to the Black House.

"Harry? Ron? Hermione? Ginny?" Lupin called out from the kitchen. Immediately Harry and Ron came stampeding down the stairs. Both at the same time started to explain everything that happened since Moody had left.

"Woah woah woah. Slow down there. One at a time, one at a time! Now… explain what happened."

"I taught Hermione, Ginny and Ron the Terpelium defence spell. And Ginny fainted with exhaustion. She is still out cold!" Harry distressed.

"And then Harry showed us this healing one and he broke his leg! Hermione was near hysterics! And then-" Harry cut Ron off before he could tell Lupin about how Harry taught him a few spells to cut human flesh and break bones.

"And then- " Harry shot a dangerous look at Ron. " -you came home." Harry smiled and nudged Ron.

"Uh yeah, then you came home…" Ron added.

"Where's Hermione?" Tonks asked.

"She's asleep." Ron replied.

"Well, I think its been quite a hectic day. So we should all just eat and go straight to bed." Moody suggested.

"Are you kidding? Go to bed at 7pm? I learnt more today than I do in a year at Hogwarts! And I actually had fun!" Ron exclaimed. Everyone had a good laugh at Ron's sudden outburst of exuberance.

** * **

It was the day before most of London's school students went to Diagon Alley to purchase their school supplies for the next term. Draco sat on his bed reading the letter he received from Hermione a few days earlier.

'She's in a house with Potty? I bet she spends almost every night with the slime bag. And she is supporting Potty too! Doesn't she realise I need her now! I'm Voldemort's bloody heir for Christ's sake… she suspects it. She even said so, she is just waiting for me to agree with her. I can't tell her, I could never tell her. What would she think of me if she knew the truth? She says she cant wait to see me tomorrow, yet she is still talking about Potter!' Draco mused over the letter from Hermione. He read every sentence and broke it down into smaller details. He hated the letter. He never wanted to see Hermione again; he hated her for writing the letter. Draco took the letter over to the fireplace and burnt it. Whilst he stood and watched it burn he started to regret what he had said and thought.

'What am I doing? Hermione didn't write that letter in spite of me.'

Draco gathered his clothes that he was to wear tomorrow and got one of the house elves to clean and press them.

** * **

On the morning of their Diagon Alley trip Hermione was the first to rise. Well she thought she was. She went into the kitchen to find Tonk's at the table drinking a cup of coffee from the same mug as earlier that week.

"Morning Tonks." Hermione said cheerfully. She didn't realise how happy she sounded.

"Some one's in a happy mood…" Tonks smiled at Hermione over the top of her cup. Part of Hermione was eager to get to Diagon Alley but the other part wanted to crawl back up to her bed and hide. She missed Draco a lot and wanted to see him. But it had been a while since she had seen him, and he hadn't replied to her letter. 'Maybe he hates me again… maybe he changed back to the prick I've always known him to be.' She thought.

"Something on your mind?" Tonks inquired. Hermione had a look of complete concentration and angst on her face. She looked up at Tonks and continued to think.

"…Tonks…" Hermione began. "Um, hypothetically; if you thought you hated someone because of things he or she had done to you in the past. And he or she was so cruel and their morals were totally different to yours. But suddenly they sort of… I don't know, changed. And you found yourself liking he or she, even loving them. But you know that he or she is totally the wrong person for you… but you still like he or she a lot. But if anyone found out that you liked that certain person you would not only hurt their feelings but also betray their trust and they'd never want to talk to you again! And they'd be ashamed of me for liking him if they ever found out!" Hermione hadn't realised that she had personalised the last sentence until the last minute and she shut her mouth before she revealed anymore. Tonks looked at Hermione astounded.

"Slow down Hermione your getting away with yourself… Now, hypothetically speaking," Tonks smiled a mischievous smile. "If you liked Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter - who was your boy friend; found out, it would be quite distressing for you, Harry, Draco and your friends. Right?" Hermione nodded slowly. She knew now that Tonks had known about her and Draco all along.

"Tell me the whole story Hermione, from when you first met Draco on your holidays." Hermione explained everything, every little detail.

"I see…" Tonks sat and mused over what Hermione had just said. "When you realised that Draco was the cloaked man. What did you feel?"

"When I realised that the cloaked man was Draco?" Hermione sat and thought. "I didn't feel anything. It was like I knew something. Like I knew I had loved him all along…"

"How did you know that this feeling was love?"

"Tonks when I'm with Harry I love him because he is a great friend, we know each other inside out and because we know how each other are feeling in different situations. But when im with Draco my love for him is the air I breathe the food I eat the water I drink. The love I feel for him is there, like energy. It's like a nagging pain in my heart when he isn't with me…" She paused and took a deep breath. "And it's like fireworks exploding inside me when he is by my side. My love for Draco is an energy that keeps me going." Hermione stopped and closed her eyes thinking of how she was going to word the last sentence. "My love for him keeps me living through this lie that I am destined to live" Hermione's eyes misted over with tears.

"Are you sure you like Draco? Hermione if your wrong about this; a lot of things that you take for granted are going to come crashing down around you."

"Tonks, I don't like him…" Tonks sighed with relief, if Hermione didn't like Draco it would make things a whole lot easier. "I love him." Tonks nearly fell off her chair. She wasn't expecting Hermione to come back with that answer.

"Hermione… Love doesn't just come out of the blue. Love is a decision…"

"A decision that I have made! Tonks im talking to you because I need help. I can't get through this on my own…" Tonks sighed. Tonks looks up and studied Hermione's face. Right then, Tonks knew that Hermione meant everything that she was saying and right then; Tonks had decided to help her out.

"But you're not on your own. You have Draco, you have Harry and Ron and Ginny. You have me…" When Tonks had said that Hermione had her to help her out a huge smile fell across her face.

"Draco; he's on the Dark side. I feel as though I can't tell him anything at the risk of some of the Light's secrets being revealed to Voldemort."

"You think Draco would tell Voldemort of what you say about us?"

"I don't know… I just don't know… Harry and Ron; they are my best friends."

"So you should be able to tell them anything!"

"No, I can't tell them. Harry is my boyfriend and if I break up with him that would be the last straw. Plus Harry and Draco have been archenemies since first year… Tonks I know Harry and he isn't coping very well with the whole war thing at all. I can't wait until this stupid war is over. It tears me up inside to see Harry suffering like this and it tears me up knowing that I'm living a lie and Harry is just another obstacle in the lie that I live."

"An obstacle that can be broken…" Tonks muttered.

"And Ron; he'd be furious. You heard about the chant that Draco led when Ron first became Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team!" Tonks didn't seem to be listening. She was sitting thinking.

"Manners cant take the place of decisions Hermione… _You _must decide." It was Hermione's turn to sit and think. She thought about what Tonks had just said and in what way she could use this information to make her situation a little better. Tonks saw the look of confusion on Hermione's face and continued. "Hermione, two years ago. If you looked at Draco what did you see?" Hermione thought a little.

"An enemy."

"See, he isn't an enemy. He's just another person. You're a stronger person for realising that, but so many people strive not to see it."

"But Tonks it's wrong. Draco has always been so rude and disrespectful. He gave Harry, Ron and I hell throughout our years at Hogwarts… but he changed, over night. It seems to good to be true."

"Hermione did it ever occur to you that maybe Draco saw you exactly the same way you saw him? Maybe he saw that you were just another person before you did. So really he didn't change he just saw you in a different light."

"Yeah I guess, but I feel like im living a lie. Everyone and everything is telling me that it's wrong!" Tonks drew a deep breath.

"Hermione, your heart never lies." Tonks looked up at Hermione and gave her a warm smile. "So why don't you listen to it?" Tonks stood, placed her cup in the sink and left for work with a pop.

A few minutes later Harry, Ron and Ginny came down the stairs fully dressed.

"Morning Hermione," Harry said as he kissed her passionately on the lips.

"Please… get a room you too." Ron said turning away; Hermione blushed with embarrassment and resentment at herself for thinking of kissing Draco. 'Listen to my heart? Easier said then done.' She thought.

"LUPIN! MOODY! We're ready to go!" Harry called up the stairs.

"Aye, I hear ya. Come on to the door." Moody called back to them. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Moody assembled in the front hall waiting for Lupin. Lupin came running down the stairs dressed in his muggle clothes.

"Has everyone got their muggle clothes on?" Harry and Ron both wore a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Hermione wore her favourite denim skirt and a brown tank top. Ginny had a red pleated skirt and a white top on. Moody how ever didn't look very 'normal'. He was wearing a kilt and a hoodie jumper.

"Moody you're going to stand out like a banana in a sea of cherries." Ginny commented. Lupin raced back upstairs and got Moody a different change of clothes. He brought back a black pair of cotton pants, a shirt, stripy scarf and a hat. Moody went into the spare room to change. When he came back out you could hardly notice him.

"Out the door everyone! The car is waiting." All six of them crept out the door at random times to avoid being seen by nosey muggles. They clambered into the Ministry cars Tonks had arranged for them.

** * **

Hermione watched as the streets of London flew past her window. The car started to slow and stop which made Hermione jerk forward in her seat. Lupin got out and held the door open for her. All six of them entered the Leaky Cauldron and went through the secret wall into Diagon Alley.

Hermione loved Diagon Alley; not only because it was filled with shops of books and interesting artefacts but also because it was so alive. It always bustled with people. And they were all different. Each and every person had their own style and their personality just beamed from their faces. It was here; in the Wizarding World that Hermione felt truly at home.

"Okay we'll all meet back here in 4 hours. That's at 2pm. Moody and I have some business we need to attend too." With that Moody and Lupin headed towards Knockturn Alley.

"Harry look! There is a new broom in the window of the Quidditch Shop!" Ron cried as he ran over to join the crowd.

"Wait up Ron! Sorry Hermione, I'll meet up with you later? How about I meet you at 1pm at the ice-cream parlour?" Hermione smiled slightly.

"Sounds great. 1pm it is." She watched Harry as he dashed over to Ron. Hermione and Ginny wandered through shops collecting what ever they needed.

"Hermione lets go to Shriek!" Shriek was a teenage girl fashion shop. Hermione didn't necessarily like shopping for clothes but she followed the insistent Ginny. Ginny dragged Hermione everywhere, all she wanted to do was get away from Ginny and go look for Draco. 

"Come on Hermione! Artemis Patterly is signing his new album at Zone! Not only is he a great singer but he is so hot! Come on Hermione! We'll be late!" Ginny ran off ahead and Hermione followed at her own pace.

Suddenly a hand came from behind her and covered her mouth. The other arm coming around her waist holding her arms tightly against her body so she couldn't struggle. Who ever this was, they were strong. Some how this all felt like it had happened to her before. She smiled as realization swept across her. She was dragged backwards into the alleyway between a few shops. Her captor spun her around and kissed her urgently yet passionately on the mouth. Hermione kissed back; she knew who it was. The taste was familiar, the smell of his hair and cologne was familiar and the feel of his skin against hers was familiar. The way his hair brushed across her face and how his hand went to the curve in her back and pulled her towards him. The way he wrapped his cloak around her body to pull her even closer if it was possible. She knew it so well.

"Morning Draco," Hermione whispered as she hugged him and rested her head on his shoulder.

** * **

//A.N- I have this little book full of sayings I guess. And I used some of them during the talk between Hermione and Tonks. For example; "No, that's not an enemy. That's just another person."  And "Your inner voice never lies. You should listen to it." Yeah the book is quite handy.

Boring chappy I know! I got the worst writers block and I really struggled to get this chapter out. The next chapter is going to take me a long time, so please bear with me. My chapters have been getting longer and a little boring and im really sorry but I need to explain all that stuff. J Thnx to kiki and others for ur reviews ur all brilliant!  //


	9. Chapter Nine

The Price of a World

Chapter Nine

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

"Morning Draco," Hermione whispered as she hugged him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Mornin" He said as he caressed her neck with kisses. Hermione pulled away from him and looked up into his stone cold eyes. They were emotionless; Hermione knew there would never be any emotion there; it was just how he was brought up. She studied his face, taking in every bit of his image.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked trying not to laugh.

"Looking."

"I know that… but why are you looking at me?"

"Just because… can't your girlfriend look at you?" Draco smirked and kissed her forehead.

"We're not going to stand in this dark, clammy alleyway all day are we?"

"Well where do you propose we go? Ron, Ginny and Harry are all out there somewhere…" Draco smirked, she hated it when he didn't explain things fully and kept her guessing.

"We can make a run for it." Draco said slowly.

"That's your brilliant plan? You're a Slytherin; and Slytherins are supposed to make cunning plans. And that is far from crafty." Draco laughed and poked Hermione.

"No, we run over to that restaurant over there. And we can hide in there. It's not like they are going to go in there."

"Hide? Very unMalfoy-like." Hermione teased. Draco smiled.

"No, I'm taking you to lunch." Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"Are you… taking me on a date Mister Malfoy?" She loved teasing him and putting him in difficult situations.

"Shut up and come here." Draco lifted Hermione in his arms and kissed her. "Come on I'm starving." He grabbed her hand and pulled her across the busy street of Diagon Alley. They darted between couples and around groups of wizards. Hermione couldn't help but laugh. They reached the restaurant and Draco shoved her inside. He pinned her up against the wall of the reception area and smirked down at her.

"Do you think your three friends saw us amongst a massive crowd in the busiest street in the Wizarding world?" Draco teased. Hermione smiled up at him and laughed.

"No but you nearly pulled my arm out of its socket." Draco kissed her bare shoulder.

"Sorry." He held out his hand and she took it. Draco led her through the restaurant to the back. In the back of the restaurant was a door. He stopped right outside the door.

"Close your eyes." Hermione looked back at him strangely.

"Why?" Draco put his hand over her eyes and gently closed her eyes.

"No peeking." He opened the door and led Hermione into the little room. It was heavily scented. Hermione breathed in deeply. Her head spun with the mix of amazing scents.

"It smells unbelievable." Hermione whispered. Draco led her further into the room and closed the door behind him.

"Ok, open your eyes." Slowly Hermione's eyes opened. It took them a while to adjust to the dim light. The room was small. There was a small table that stood only a few feet from the ground. A marvelous feast of salads, cheese platters, roast-chicken, fruit, and sweets, steaming vegetables, goblets of drink and various meat dishes was spread across the table. The centerpiece of the table was a large candelabrum with each of its 6 candles burning profusely. Surrounding the table were soft silk and velvet cushions and two poufs. There were no windows and no electrical lights; the only light came from the various candles around the room and on the table. Large, blood red rose petals were scattered across the floor and over the table.

Draco ran his hands up and down her arms from where he stood directly behind her. He started to kiss her neck as Hermione gazed at the sight before her.

"Oh Draco… its gorgeous. Did you do all this?"

"Of course." He whispered. "I've rented the room for the whole afternoon." Hermione turned around to face him. She slowly and seductively wrapped her arms around his neck. On tiptoes she reached up and kissed his lips slowly yet passionately. She tempted him with short and sweet kisses; and when Draco's lips parted to increase the kiss their tongues met. 

Hermione felt like her emotions were on fire. There was an amazing feeling running across her body and zealous vibes were flowing out of her. Draco truly was an amazing kisser. When she was with him she was the happiest she had ever been. Sometimes she asked herself why she had chosen the 'bad boy'. But it was obvious wasn't it? Opposites attract. She was smart, talented, gorgeous and an obedient student. And Draco… well he was handsome, and charming and a complete prick to everyone including teachers. Yes he was smart, he could be smarter then Hermione if he tried. But he'd prefer to muck around, be a complete smart arse and flirt with every single Slytherin. But that had all changed; they were a couple now, boyfriend and girlfriend. And Draco was Hermione's and she was Draco's.

Draco pulled away from Hermione gasping for air and looked down at her.

"Where the hell did Little Miss Perfect learn to kiss like that!?" Hermione smirked.

"Just because I pay attention to my studies doesn't mean I don't know how to kiss." Hermione paused. "Plus, I think you deserved that kiss because you did all this for me." Draco laughed.

"I should do things like this more often." Hermione poked Draco playfully in the chest.

"Don't get used to it Malfoy." He smirked and held out his hand.

"Shall we begin our feast?" Hermione smiled at him and took his hand. Draco led her over to one of the poufs. Once she was seated he sat crossed legged on a pouf next to her. Hermione stared at the feast before her. Her eyes lit up when she spotted something.

"Strawberries!" She reached over and took a large ruby red strawberry. Draco leaned over and took a huge bite out of the strawberry. Hermione gasped.

"That was _my_ strawberry." Draco smirked at her whilst he chewed. Hermione laughed and lent over to kiss him. With his fast Seeker reflexes he grabbed Hermione by the waist and pulled her onto the floor and buried her amongst the cushions. Draco lay down beside her started to tempt her with more strawberries. Hermione burst with laughter and pulled Draco down into the sea of silk cushions. The couple spent their afternoon doing more kissing and fooling around then actually eating the delicious feast Draco had prepared for them.

*** * ***

Harry looked at his watch. It was 1:37pm.

"Maybe she has her nose buried in a book at Flourish and Blotts and hasn't noticed the time?" Ron suggested.

"She wouldn't be that careless." Ron raised his eyebrow at Harry.

"This is Hermione and a book…" Before Harry had time to retaliate Ginny came pushing through the crowd towards them.

"Sorry I'm late. You should've seen the line at Zone for Artemis Patterly to sign his album. I swear I waited over an hour!" Ginny paused when she realised Harry and Ron's blank and confused expressions. "Oh don't worry… where is Hermione?" Harry shrugged.

"I thought she was with you?" Ron said.

"She was, but we lost each other on the way to Zone. And I didn't have time to go looking for her. I anticipated she'd be with you two."

"Well she isn't and she is nearly 45 minutes late. She was supposed to meet me here at 1pm." Harry said as he slumped into a high plastic stool at the bench of the ice-cream parlour. Ron and Ginny joined him at the bench.

"Well maybe she forgot…" Suggested Ginny. Harry glared at her.

"My girlfriend wouldn't forget about something like this…"

"Well if your so sure she wouldn't forget, where is she?" Ginny was amazed at how rude her brother was and she kicked him in the shins under the table. Harry's cheeks slowly flushed with anger. Lately Harry had a very short fuse when it came to patience. She knew it wasn't his fault, there was so much pressure on him and it was obvious to everyone how much Hermione meant to Harry.

"I'm going to go look for her; I can't stand waiting around. She could be in trouble!" Harry said abruptly sliding his chair back with such force that it fell over backwards and clattered to the floor. Ginny looked around at the crowd that was looking at them.

"Harry calm down. It's Diagon Alley. The most trouble Hermione could get in is trying to chose between five different books!" Ginny said grabbing Harry's arm and trying to make him sit again.

"What has gotten into you lately? You're all jumpy and one little thing that goes wrong you think that Voldemort has something to do with it!" Ron was truly concerned but the way he said it made Harry's anger soar.

"YOU DON'T GET IT DO YOU!? THAT'S BECAUSE WHEN SOMETHING DOES GO WRONG IT IS ALWAYS BECAUSE OF VOLDEMORT WANTING TO GET AT ME!! YOU HAVEN'T HAD TO GROW UP FEARING TO LOVE SOMEONE BECAUSE YOU MIGHT PUT HIM OR HER IN DANGER! YOU HAVEN'T HAD NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES EVERY YEAR SINCE YOU FOUND OUT THAT MOST OF YOUR LIFE WAS A LIE! YOU DON'T HAVE THE FATE OF THE WIZARDING WORLD AND THE LIVES OF INNOCENT MUGGLES ON YOUR CONCIENCE ALL THE TIME! THEY DON'T DEPEND ON YOU TO SAVE THEM DO THEY!? NO THEY DEPEND ON ME AND I CANT TAKE THE PRESSURE ANYMORE!"

"Harry calm down…" Ginny whispered as she smiled and told the passers by; who stopped to gawk, to carry on. Ron just sat staring at his shoes. His face and ears were as red as Ginny's hair. There were two people pushing through the crowd to get to where Harry, Ginny and Ron sat.

"Harry! There is no need to shout and express your personal matters in a public place. What is going on here anyway!?" It was Lupin. He pushed thought the last few people and walked up the steps to the shop front where the trio were fighting.

"Lucky we got back early." Moody grumbled. "Go on! There is nothing to see here!" He yelled at the crowd. They all immediately scrambled off in all directions.

"Where is Hermione?" Lupin inquired as his eyebrows glowered in question. Harry didn't dare look at Lupin; he just glared at the floor. Ginny and Ron tumbled in a spiel about how Hermione was late for ice cream and why Harry was yelling. Harry's anger seemed to rise, as it seemed like the whole thing was being blamed on him; but he didn't dare show it.

"Okay; well we are due back at the Black House in an hour. So I suggest we all spilt up and comb Diagon Alley for Hermione. Everyone meet back at the Leaky Cauldron at 2:30pm." Lupin instructed.

"Harry, Ginny. You go up towards Shriek. Ron you go down towards Gringotts. Moody and I will scour the exits off to other streets." They all split up and went towards their destinations. Harry clenched his fists and stormed off. Ginny had to run to keep up.

"Harry! Harry wait up!" Ginny said as she broke into a run to try and keep up with Harry. Since she was of a slim build and a lot shorter than the six foot-two Harry it was hard for her to push through the crowds as easily as Harry could.

*** * **

Draco held the door to the little room open for Hermione. She smiled up at him and exited the small room. Draco held out his arm for Hermione and she took it. Draco led her towards the exit of the Restaurant.

"I don't want to leave you. I've had too much fun!" Hermione said as they reached the door. Draco laughed.

"You have to go. Pothead and Weasel will be looking for you." Draco paused. "Plus I'll see you tomorrow, on the train." He said seductively and cheekily. Hermione laughed and poked him in the chest. Draco lent down and kissed her lightly on the lips. He tasted of apple pie and vanilla ice cream. Whilst he kissed Hermione he slowly opened the door of the restaurant leading out onto Diagon Alley. 

** * **

Ginny and Harry searched every shop in their end of Diagon Alley. They had run into Ron and the trio continued to search Diagon Alley. Harry stayed silent and he hardly spoke.

"Come on Ron, let's start back up at Shriek and work our way down. By then it should be time for us to meet Lupin back at the Leaky Cauldron."

"Sure Gin." Ron was exhausted and bored, Ginny being his sister could tell. The trio walked one behind the other up the street. Little did they know they were quickly approaching the restaurant in which Draco and Hermione were.

** * **

Hermione took Draco's hand and started off down the stairs onto the pavement outside the restaurant. Draco was kissing her neck and Hermione was laughing.

"Draco cut it out!" Hermione managed to say between giggles. Draco laughed and pretended to bite Hermione's neck. She squealed and laughed as Draco picked her up and carried her down into Diagon Alley.

"Oh look Wilfred. A happy teenage couple." A senior witch said to her partner as they passed Hermione and Draco. Draco spun Hermione around and she screamed and laughed.

** * **

The crowds along Diagon Alley were growing, it was peak hour for last minute shopping and many people were on their way home from work. Harry, Ron and Ginny were finding it hard to make their way up to Shriek. A loud scream and laughter of a young girl came from a little further ahead.

"That sounded like Hermione…" Harry said looking at Ginny concerned.

"Quick! It wasn't that far ahead." The trio pushed their hardest through the crowd. It was Ginny who pushed through the crowd into the small clearing first. 

** * **

"I love you Hermione,"

"I love you too Draco." Draco lowered his head and kissed Hermione slowly on the lips. Hermione wrapped her arms around Draco's neck and pulled him down to her. She pushed her head up and intensified the kiss.

** * **

Ginny stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the couple before her. Ron was the second of the three to get through the crowd and he too stopped at the sight before him. He quickly turned around and tried to push Harry back.

"Let me through you goof!" Harry said as he tackled Ron in a rage of fury.

** * **

Hermione pushed her head up and intensified the kiss. Hermione parted her lips slightly and Draco slid his tongue in. It was the most passionate kiss Hermione had ever experienced with Draco. 

** * **

"RON! Get the hell out of my way! What the hell has gotten into you?" Harry yelled as he pushed Ron aside. He was finally able to push through into the small clearing. There before him was Hermione. At first he didn't know what to think. Anger? Confusion? Jealousy? Love?

There before was Hermione, in the arms of Draco Malfoy. And what was worse, was they were engrossed in sucking the lips off each other. Harry felt as if he were about to be sick.

"You slut." Harry choked out.

** * **

//A.N- YAY! Chapter 9 is up!  -Parties-    lol

 Ok, I seriously need to stress to you that Hermione means _the world_ to Harry; like he can't function without her. I **REALLY** need you all to keep that in mind, okies?  -Grins-

Haha, do you like Harry's outburst? (Capitals – OoOoOoO) I thought the story needed a little bit of anger you know? He was all too; calm. Seriously if the whole worlds fate depended on me I'd be going ape shit! 

Heh, I tried to build up suspense nearing the end there. Swapping between Harry, Ron and Ginny and Hermione and Draco. But I failed miserably!   :P

-Falls over laughing- Oh I love leaving people on cliffhangers! I should imagine that you all hate me right now coz the next chapter wont be up for a few weeks. //


	10. Chapter Ten

The Price of a World

Chapter Ten

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"RON! Get the hell out of my way! What the hell has gotten into you?" Harry yelled as he pushed Ron aside. He was finally able to push through into the small clearing. There before him was Hermione. At first he didn't know what to think. Anger? Confusion? Jealousy? Heart Break? 

There before him was Hermione, in the arms of Draco Malfoy. And what was worse was they were engrossed in sucking the lips off each other. Harry felt as if he were about to be sick.

"You slut." Harry choked out. Hermione heard Harry's voice instinctively, screamed and pushed Draco off her. Hermione whipped around to face Harry. Draco was standing directly behind Hermione just smirking at her friends.

"H-Harry…" Hermione stuttered.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing Hermione!?" Ron yelled going red from ear to ear with fury.

"I- I…" Hermione stuttered. This is where Draco's charm and wittiness came into play. Draco laughed cruelly.

"Please Potter; don't tell me you think your mudblood girlfriend and I are having a relationship?" Draco sneered. Harry's face reddened and Draco laughed once more.

"She'd be so lucky…" Draco scoffed. Ron's hands scrunched into fists and he advanced on Draco. Ginny ran forward and held him back.

"Then what, were you doing kissing my girlfriend?" Harry said stiffly. Draco stopped smirking; he was obviously out of ideas.

"He was harassing me again Harry. He tried touching me but I wouldn't let him." Hermione's eyes filled with crocodile tears. Harry softened immediately and held out his hand. Hermione ran to Harry's embrace. Hermione continued the act and began crying some more. Ron watched Hermione crying and he genuinely believed his best friends story. By now Ginny's hands were also in fists and she looked ready to pounce on Draco.

"If you'd never have a relationship with Hermione; why'd you kiss her?" Ron scowled. Draco smirked.

"Haven't you heard of kiss and run? It was all just for fun."

"Fun?" Harry scowled. He set Hermione aside and advanced on Draco. Within an instant Harry pulled his fist back and punched Draco in the nose. Draco having fast seeker reflexes dodged the punch and managed to punch Harry in the cheek. Hermione screamed for both Harry and Draco to stop. The blow didn't affect Harry's balance in anyway but it sent him into a spin, which backfired on Draco. The spin giving Harry's next punch an advantage of force. Draco wasn't expecting Harry to return a clout straight away so Harry got Draco full blown on the cheekbone. Knocking him sideways and onto the cobble stone sidewalk. Hermione screamed and ran over and stood between Harry and Draco. She turned to Harry, here eyes red from crying.

"Harry stop this. He isn't worth it. Please!" Harry scoffed. Secretly Hermione prayed Harry would stop because it was killing her standing by as her boyfriend got into a fistfight; she felt totally useless.

"You know; you're right Hermione. Malfoy _isn't_ worth my time. Come on, we have to meet Lupin and Moody. They'll be worried." Harry turned and began to walk back towards the Leaky Cauldron. Ron and Ginny began to follow. Before Hermione followed her three best friends she turned to Draco. She mouthed the words 'I'm so sorry. I'll see you at platform 9 ¾' Draco smirked back at her and blew her a kiss. Draco got up from the pavement and darted off into the crowd. Hermione sighed and followed Harry back to Lupin and Moody at the Leaky Cauldron.

** * **

It was nearly 3am on the morning of first day back after the Christmas break. Ginny and Hermione were fast asleep in their beds. On the floor below Ron was fast asleep in his bed and his loud snoring echoed through out the house. The bed next to Ron's however was empty. Harry; dressed in his pyjamas crept up the staircase and into Hermione and Ginny's room. He went over and sat on Hermione's bed and watched her sleep. She looked so innocent and fragile. Movement came from Ginny's bed and Harry looked over at Ginny. She too was fast asleep. Harry watched Ginny for a long time.

'Wow; Ginny has grown. She used to be a scrawny little girl in first year at Hogwarts. Now she has grown into a beautiful young lady right under my nose. And I only just noticed her now…' Harry thought to himself. 

Ginny's sleeping body shifted slightly and her silky, long crimson ringlets slid slightly over her face. Harry was about to go over and move Ginny's hair out of her face when Hermione moved and sat up slowly. Her eyes slightly open. She half yawned and sighed as she rubbed her eyes. When her chocolate brown eyes opened completely and they came into focus, she smiled.

"Harry…" Hermione said sleepily. "What are you doing up here?" Harry smiled and took Hermione's hand and kissed it gently.

"I couldn't sleep." Hermione looked at him with concern and moved over in her bed. She patted the space next to her. Harry climbed up the bed and slid under the covers with Hermione.

"Is something troubling you?" Hermione said lying back down and resting her head on Harry's chest. Hermione closed her eyes and listened to the beat of Harry's heart. Harry thought about whether he was going to tell Hermione what was on his mind.

"Harry?" Hermione asked as her body tensed from being put slightly on edge with Harry's uncomfortable silence.

"I'm… sorry if I've been neglecting you lately. And; you know that I love you. I love you so much. You know that right?" Hermione relaxed and fiddled with one of the buttons on Harry's pyjama top.

"Of course I know that you love me. And I love you very much too. Harry you haven't been neglecting me. You've had more important things to worry about and you know that I'm here for you." Harry smiled and stroked Hermione's hair.

"I promise you that you will be my main priority once we get back to school. I'll be finished my training here and I'll be able to concentrate on you." Hermione lifted her head and reached up and kissed Harry softly on the lips. Harry caressed Hermione's thigh as he rolled on top of her and kissed her soft lips. Hermione wrapped her arms around Harry's neck pulling his body closer to hers. Harry planted soft kisses down Hermione's neck and down her chest, moving closer to her breasts. When he reached the top of her pyjama shirt her unbuttoned it slowly. Placing soft kisses as he went. Hermione ran her nails slowly over Harry's back sending chills across his body. He increased the passion by thrusting his pelvis slowly against Hermione's. Their bodies moved together in the thrusting rhythm, both Hermione's and Harry's sexual urges grew to near bursting point. Hermione unbuttoned Harry's pyjama top hurridly and threw it onto the floor as Harry slid Hermione's top off her shoulders and threw it over his head. He continued to kiss her bare skin. Harry's lips were cold against Hermione's hot skin, and Hermione's skin burst out in goose bumps. Harry pulled himself back up and snogged Hermione hungrily on the lips. His hands started to venture down Hermione's torso. He went lower and lower, eventually sliding his hand into Hermione's pants. His fingers were fiddling trying to get into her undies when Hermione's hand shot down and grabbed his wrist. She wriggled out from under Harry, sat up and looked him sternly in the eye.

Hermione was still a virgin and so was Harry. She still felt uncomfortable being so intimate with Harry since they had been best friends for nearly 6 years, and Harry was Hermione's first real boyfriend. Harry groaned.

"I'm sorry Hermione. I couldn't help myself. You do things to me; and I cant control myself…" Hermione sighed.

"Harry you do this every time. You're making me feel really pressured into taking our relationship a step further. But I'm not ready to go further…" Harry got off the bed and collected his clothes.

"Harry… I'm sorry." Hermione said beginning to get out of bed and go over to him.

"No Hermione… I'm sorry." Harry said slinking out the door and going back down to his own room. Hermione huffed and got back into bed. She looked over at Ginny's sleeping body. Slowly Hermione drifted back into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

** * **

Draco was getting ready to go to bed when a knock came from the door to his chamber.

"Come in." Draco called out. Lucius entered the room and closed the door. He turned to face his son.

"Draco," Draco wasn't in the mood for his father's lectures so he took on a sarcastic attitude.

"Father," Lucius pursed his lips, took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Listen boy, this task you have been given by the Dark Lord is very important. You must not screw it up like everything else in your life!"

"If I recall correctly it is _you_ who has screwed up everything in your life." Lucius advanced on Draco and gripped him by the front of his shirt and shook him roughly.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that Draco! All you have to do is watch Potter carefully and report back to the Dark Lord once you know Potter's greatest weakness…" Draco stared at his father, realisation swarmed over him. Draco already knew what Harry's greatest weakness was, but Lucius and Voldemort did not. Lucius tossed his son onto the floor harshly.

"Get to bed, you have a tough term ahead of you." Lucius turned, his cloak swishing out behind him, and stalked out of the room. Draco spent half the night pacing his room thoughts churning through his head about the following term.

** * **

"Come along, everyone through the barrier." Lupin said as Ron, Ginny, Moody and Hermione ran through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. "In you go Harry." Harry took the barrier at a run, with Lupin close behind him. Once through the barrier the smell of smoke met his nose. Before him was the scarlet, steam train that took him and his peers to school. The platform was filled with students, parents, trunks and cages of owls, cats, toads and rats.

"Harry! Over here! I got us a compartment!" Ron was already on the train, hanging out the window. Harry turned to Lupin and Moody.

"Thank you for training me over the break. I really appreciate it. I'll keep in touch while I'm at school." 

"Aye ya will lad." Moody smiled at Harry, shook his hand and went to talk to Mr Weasley.

"Harry… I know I'm not Sirius. And I'm not trying to be. But if you have any problems, or if something you feel is not right, you'll tell me straight away wont you?" Harry sighed and smiled at Lupin.

"Yes Lupin." Lupin sighed and seemed to relax instantly. He stood up straight to his full height and shook Harry's hand.

"Hurry up Harry. The train will be leaving soon." Harry stored his trunk in the luggage carriage and went to join his friends in the compartment. The Hogwarts Express blew its whistle and slowly the wheels began to turn. All the students ran to the windows and waved goodbye to their family on the platform.  Once the train had disappeared around the corner and out of view of the station the students went back to their seats.

"It's good to be going home again…" Ginny said cheerfully.

"Yeah…" Hermione sighed. She looked across at Harry who was resting his head against the window, his eyes closed. A loud groan echoed through out the compartment. Hermione looked towards the source of the noise and Ron flushed bright red.

"It's my stomach. I'm starving!" He moaned. Ginny laughed.

"Do you want me to come with you to find the trolley lady?" Ginny asked her brother. They both rose out of their seats and were about to open the compartment door when it flew open. Outside in the hall way was Draco. Harry's eyes flew open and he stood up abruptly.

"What are you doing here Malfoy?" Harry said maliciously as he pushed in front of Ginny, Ron and the now standing Hermione. Draco smirked.

"Well aren't we all on edge today."

"Piss off Malfoy…" Ron muttered. Draco smirked again.

"Calm down Weasel, Scar-head. I'm just delivering a message." Harry advanced slightly on Draco. Hermione leapt forward grabbing the back of Harry's clothes, not wanting Draco to get hurt again.

"Spit it out Malfoy before I pummel you." Harry said through clenched teeth.

 "The message isn't for you Potty. Or either of the Weasel's…" Harry turned around to face Hermione, and gave her a suspicious look.

"Granger. You and I, being Head Boy and Girl; have to go to the Prefects Compartment now, for a meeting." Hermione nodded and Draco left. Hermione turned to Harry and looked at him.

"All that fuss for nothing." Hermione whispered to him.

"Hermione you don't have to go if you don't feel comfortable with him…" Ron said firmly.

"No I'll be fine. Thank you for standing up for me though…" Hermione kissed Harry on the cheek and left the compartment. 

** * **

//AN- Well well well. Over the writers block for all of my stories now!!! Yay!!! And I'm on holz so I have so much time on my hands! Anyways how'd you like that chappy? Interesting? Sorry for the bad twist at the beginning but Harry can't find out about Hermione and Draco… Yet! 

Yes a little bit of intimacy between Harry and Hermione… hehe… I really liked the line "No Hermione; I'm sorry."  Isn't it harsh? I can just imagine Harry saying it though.

Yes and Draco delivering a message to Hermione? Wonder what that is about… Oh yeah, I sorta made a mistake earlier in the story, like chapter two or something. They aren't in 6th year; they're in 7th year. Ginny is in 6th year though. Just had to sort that out :D

I wasn't going to put this chappy up till later in the month but I couldn't resist! Thanks to everyone for reviewing you're all wonderful! *huggles*   //


	11. Chapter Eleven

The Price of a World

Chapter Eleven

****

//AN- I was not on any drugs when I wrote this chapter… but I may have been when I wrote the AN at the end… Hahaha j/k j/k…//

****

"Granger. You have to come to the Prefects Compartment now." Hermione nodded and Draco left. Hermione turned to Harry and looked at him.

"All that fuss for nothing." Hermione whispered to him.

"Hermione you don't have to go if you don't feel comfortable with him…" Ron said firmly.

"No I'll be fine. Thank you for standing up for me though…" Hermione kissed Harry on the cheek and left the compartment. She walked through all the carriages on the train all the way down to the very first carriage. This carriage was dedicated to the Prefects, Head Boy and Head Girl. 

Hermione entered into the large combined quarters. The carriage stretched out before her, but it was empty. In the corner to the left of the door was a small kitchen, the shelves stacked with food and drinks. On the right hand side, by the door was a bookcase filled with books. Next to the bookcase were a few beanbags. Hermione took a few steps into the carriage and closed the door behind her. Past the kitchen and reading corner was a large table with 12 chairs seated around it; this table was used for large meetings on the train to Hogwarts. Hermione continued on down the carriage. Past the table were more lounge's and seats. 

Hermione then headed to the back of the carriage where there was a small section just for the Head Girl and Boy. She opened the door, and in the small room Draco was seated in a chair by the electric heater. He sat with his head in his hands, his fingers massaging his temples. Hermione frowned, knowing there was something wrong. She entered the room and closed the door behind her. She went and sat on the floor at Draco's feet.

"Draco… what's wrong?" Hermione's hand touched Draco's cheek; he lifted his head slightly to look at her. Draco looked into Hermione's chocolate brown eyes; he could just drown in them. Her eyes were filled with concern. Draco sat up and patted his lap softly. Hermione climbed from the floor onto his lap and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Slowly she kissed his cheek and forehead gingerly.

"Please tell me what's wrong? I hate seeing you like this… Was it Harry and Ron at Diagon Alley? I'm so sorry that had to happen…" Hermione paused. Draco's words  were getting caught up in his throat. He sat for a while thinking of what to say.

"Hermione… I didn't mean the things I said about you to Potter and Weasley…" Hermione's eyes softened and seemed to nearly fill with tears. 

"Draco is that why you're acting like this? Oh my," Hermione kissed Draco feverently. "Sweety I know you didn't mean those things."

Draco couldn't bring himself to tell Hermione the real reason he'd brought her here. He only brought her here so he'd get himself off the hook. He was going to ask her to dump Harry, because if Voldemort found out about Hermione and Harry dating he would surly kill Hermione just to get at Harry. But he realised when he saw Hermione's eyes, filled with concern just looking at him; that he'd rather take the blow from Voldemort and his father then make Hermione go through the pain of breaking up with Harry. She was in potential danger if she broke up with Harry or not. And he was willing to risk his life to protect Hermione.

Hermione sat on Draco's lap staring into his cold, grey eyes. Her gaze brushed across Draco's worried face.

"Draco there is something else you're not telling me… Has it got something to do with your father?" Draco's eyes widened and looked up at Hermione. He smiled and kissed her.

"No, nothing is wrong. I'm fine." Draco, being a Malfoy; was good at hiding his true feelings behind his icy grey eyes. There was a knock at the door and Hermione jumped off Draco's lap and dived into the chair opposite him. Draco stood abruptly and straightened his robes.

"Come in..?" Draco said stiffly. The door opened, it was Crabbe and Goyle.

"Draco, we've been looking for you." Crabbe said in a deep, droning voice. 

"Well you've found me, what do you want?" Draco said trying to keep his temper under control. Crabbe and Goyle looked from Draco to Hermione and back to Draco again. Draco turned to face Hermione. Hermione's eyes darted from Draco to the doorway.

"Uh, right. I have to get back to my compartment. Malfoy you can handle the Slytherin and Ravenclaw Prefects when we arrive at Hogwarts." Hermione stood abruptly and left the compartment. Once they heard Hermione leave the main carriage Goyle spoke.

"Draco, your mission from the Dark Lord…" He began.

"What do you know of my mission?" Draco spat.

"We… we just want to help." Goyle muttered. Draco sighed and rolled his eyes.

"What is it?"

"Well… the mudblood. She's Potter's boyfriend."

"Yes I've established that Crabbe." Draco said sarcastically.

"No… but, you could use the mudblood as Potter's weakness." Draco's heart seemed to stop. 'If these two idiots have figured that out then Voldemort will too.' Draco thought to himself. He needed to do some quick thinking.

"Yes I have considered that Crabbe. But I know something that will get to Potter even more…" Draco said in his usual slimy drawl. Crabbe and Goyle chuckled deeply. Draco rolled his eyes at how dumb these two were.

"And you two should know better than to discuss matters like this outside of the Malfoy Manor and outside of the Slytherin dungeons." Draco spat. Crabbe and Goyle stopped laughing immediately and begged for forgiveness as Draco pushed them out the door. He slammed the Head Room door and sat back in his seat by the heater.

A knock sounded at the door to the office. The door opened a little just so Pettigrew's filthy little; beady black eyes could peep into the room.

"What is it Pettigrew?" Voldemort drawled. Pettigrew jumped with fright at not seeing Voldemort.

"M-m-m-Master." He stuttered.

"Get inside Pettigrew!" Voldemort yelled. Pettigrew flinched and scrambled into the room shutting the door firmly behind him.

"I – I have the girl Master." He said in his disgustingly wheezy voice.

"The Parkinson child? Bring her in."

"Yes Master." Pettigrew clicked his fingers and Pansy Parkinson's body instantly appeared crumpled up on the floor. Her arms and leg were bound with rope and a piece of material gagged her mouth. Voldemort walked over to her and levitated her body into an upright position with her feet dangling 30cm above the ground.

"Miss Parkinson…" Pansy wriggled and struggled, trying to scream and shout through the cloth in her mouth. Voldemort chuckled evilly and Pettigrew joined him only laughing because Voldemort was and having no idea why he was laughing. Suddenly with out warning, Voldemort's hand lashed out and whacked Pettigrew over the head.

"Get out!" Voldemort spat. Whimpering Pettigrew scrambled out of the room and closed the door. Voldemort waved his hand and the ropes binding Pansy disappeared. He walked over to her, lowered her onto the ground and gently removed the material in her mouth.

"Miss Parkinson… I'm so terribly sorry about the way my servant treated you." Pansy frowned whilst straightening out her robes and fixing her _always_-immaculate hair.

"You should be! He dragged me out of my home; I just got back from a hairdresser appointment. And now look!" Pointing to her hair and slowly losing her temper. "A pin has fallen out and one of the ringlets isn't curled correctly!" Pansy folded her arms and glared at Voldemort.

"Miss Parkinson; you do know who you are talking too…"

"Yes Lord Voldemort… I do. But frankly status went right out the window when I was tied up and gagged! My father is second in line to Mr Malfoy!" Voldemort smirked.

"You have great potential…" Pansy stopped frowning instantly. She flicked her hair seductively and smirked.

"Oh really?"

"Yes Miss Parkinson… you could go so far. If…" Voldemort trailed off. Pansy's eyes widened with shock and she leaned in closer.

"If..?" She asked getting slightly anxious.

"If you sat by my side… as my wife. My Wife and soon the Queen of the entire world. Everyone would bow down before you; everyone would know your name!" Voldemort lowered his voice to nearly a whisper. "You could get everything and anything you want…" Pansy looked his every Christmas and Birthday had come at once.

"Your wife…" She breathed.

"Yes…"

"Anything?" She breathed.

"Anything… my darling." Voldemort smirked; Pansy had fallen for the bait. Now he just had to reel her in. Pansy smirked and sidled up to Voldemort.

"I accept your proposition of marriage." Pansy said sliding her hands inside Voldemort's robes. Voldemort smirked down at her and stood still, allowing Pansy to feel as if she was in control. Slowly Pansy slid her hand into Voldemort pants. There was a knock at the door and Voldemort was about to pull away from Pansy and allow the person to enter the room. But Pansy wanted who ever was at the door to see her and the Dark Lord together. So before Voldemort could step away Pansy's lips latched onto Voldemort's and they engrossed themselves in an intimate kiss. The door opened whilst Pansy and Voldemort were sharing their extremely saliva filled kiss and Lucius, Pettigrew, Mr Parkinson and Mr Zambini entered the room. They all stopped in their tracks at the sight before them.

"L-Lord Voldemort…" Pettigrew stuttered. "V-visitors…" He muttered. Voldemort stopped in mid kiss. Luckily his back was to the door or Mr Parkinson would see what his daughter's hand was doing. Pansy pulled her hands away from Voldemort and wrapped them inside her coat.

"Father…" Pansy said as innocently as possible.

"Pansy, you should be at home..."

"Sweetheart, tell them our news." Pansy said cooingly to Voldemort. Lucius and Mr Zambini stood smirking as they figured out what was going on.

"Get out, the lot of you. I said I didn't want to be disturbed!"

"Sorry My Lord…" Lucius said slyly herding the crowd out the door. Once everyone left Voldemort turned back to Pansy.

"Darling, no one can know of our arrangement. Some one may try to harm you…" Voldemort mentally kicked himself for not coming up with something better. He didn't really want to marry Pansy, he just knew of her reputation.

"Harm me?" Pansy said truly worried, proving how naïve she really was. Voldemort sat down on the couch and pulled Pansy onto his lap.

"I need you to do something for me."

"Anything sweetie-pie." Voldemort shuddered at being called 'sweetie-pie'.

"When you get back to Hogwarts, I have a mission for you."

"Oh a mission! How exciting!" Pansy said nearly bouncing in his lap.

"Keep an eye of Draco. Follow his every move, I want you to report back to me everyday."

"Is Dracey-poos up to something naughty?" Pansy cooed delightfully. 

"No, I want to make sure he is doing _his_ mission." Pansy chuckled evilly.

"Oh you naughty boy…" Pansy said pushing Voldemort back onto the couch as she straddled him around his hips. "Now where were we?" Pansy asked mischievously. 

"Hermione's been gone for too long. She might be in trouble, I'm going to go look for her." Harry had been sitting twiddling his thumbs and then pacing the small compartment ever since Hermione left with Draco.

"Harry, you're over reacting… she's probably fine."

"We all thought she was fine the other day in Diagon Alley, but she was being harassed by Malfoy!" Harry exploded at Ron.

"HARRY!" Ginny yelled, standing from her seat and glaring at Harry. "Apologise to Ron, he did nothing to deserve that." Harry sighed and ran his hand through his already messy hair.

"Sorry mate. I'm so uptight lately."

"You're telling me?" Ginny muttered as she sat back down next to her brother.

"I need to get some air…" Harry said turning towards the door.

"What are you going to do Harry? Jump out of the train?" Ginny asked sarcastically.

"No, I'm going for a walk _along_ the train." Harry replied emotionlessly.

"Don't forget to look for Hermione whilst you're on your walk…" Harry ignored Ginny's final comment and left the compartment.

"Gin what's wrong with you today? Get up on the wrong side of the bed?" Ron asked.

"I don't know what is wrong with me Ron…" Ginny said her eyes filling with tears.

"Ginny…" Ron pulled his sister into a hug. "I've never seen anyone go through so many different moods in such a short time." Ginny laughed a little and then burst into tears on her brother's shoulder.

Harry ran into Hermione two carriages away from their compartment.

"Harry," Hermione smiled up at him. "What are you doing?"

"I was going for a walk…" Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay… so I was going down to check and see if you were okay." Hermione laughed a little and kissed Harry on the cheek.

"I'm here in one piece talking to you aren't I?" Hermione said grinning at him.

"Yeah," Harry said smiling at her. "Look I'm sorry about last night. I shouldn't have pushed you after what happened at Diagon Alley…" Hermione put her finger up to Harry's lips and silenced him.

"It's okay, I understand." Hermione kissed his lips gently, took his hand and led him back to their compartment.

//AN1- Looky! It's a chappy! Woot! Yes uhm… what'd you think? Like it? Is it going the way you expected? Do you like the whole new Slut-Pansy? Is she too slutty? Did it make you gag when she was all over Voldemort who is like _ancient_? (I was near gagging  shudders) Was Crabbe and Goyle interrupting Hermione and Draco a little too random?  Please answer in your review… if you're nice enough to review grins  //

//AN2- dances around I didn't leave you hanging for once! LOOK!!! Re-read that last paragraph! No cliffhangers there!! frolicks    NEW RECORD Woah… that has to be the shortest chappy I've written in this entire story!  NEW RECORD

//AN3- Okay from about this chapter onwards my story starts to live up to its R rating… so be prepared. You'd get abit of a shock if you were reading "And the little pony's were jumping around playing amongst the daisies…" and then you turned the page and read… "SEX! DICK! SEX!" You'd be a little freaked out… So that's why I'm warning you… //

//AN4- Awwwww guys…. My story is coming to an end… Well to you it may not be but it is for me coz im writing a few chappies ahead. There's about 5 more chappies before it ends. cries                                                                                                 BUT!!!! All is good… I'm getting ideas for a sequel… Do you think there should be a sequel? Review and tell me coz I want to write one… but then it might spoil this story, there is nothing I hate more then a sequel to a movie. It just ruins the original. But it's up to the readers coz I aint gonna write it if you aint gonna read it, catch my drift? //


	12. Chapter Twelve

**The Price of a World  
Chapter Twelve**   
  
_AN- Sorry guys... I was in a really weird mood when I wrote the last chapter. I'll make this one nice and... uhm; good ...to make up for it. _  
  
When the train arrived at Hogsmead, Hagrid was waiting at the station. He said his usual hellos to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny before taking the First Years to the boats. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny climbed into a carriage and rode up to Hogwarts entrance. They entered the Great Hall and took their places at the Gryffindor Table. Hermione nearly jumped two feet in the air when Draco came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. Harry was sitting opposite Hermione at the table and he glared up at Draco.  
  
"What do you want now Malfoy?" Harry said through gritted teeth. Hermione's heart was going a million miles per hour. 'What could Draco want now? Does he seriously have a death wish to approach me in front of Harry twice in one day?' Hermione thought as she turned in her seat to look at Draco. Draco was looking down at her his usual smirk smeared across his face. He ignored Harry's comment and delivered the message to Hermione. "Dumbledore wants us to give a talk to the school." "What about?" Hermione enquired. "The upcoming event," Draco paused "and new rules..." "Oh okay. Now?" Draco nodded and Hermione rose from her seat and followed Draco to the front of the hall. Dumbledore smiled and greeted the Head Boy and Girl and he then gave his announcement to the School. He introduced a few new teachers and then handed the floor over to Hermione and Draco. "Welcome back to a new and exciting semester at Hogwarts." Hermione greeted the hall. "My name's Hermione Granger of Gryffindor and I am the Head Girl."  
  
"I'm Draco, Draco Malfoy. Head Boy." Draco said in his usual drawl. Hermione fought back the urge to roll her eyes at his lack of enthusiasm and exaggeration of cockiness. Hermione continued to smile at the school seated before her and she nudged Draco encouragingly. "I'll tell them about the rules and you can tell them about the - " "Okay, you start." Draco interrupted. "Okay Everyone! There are a few things we need to go over with you. As you all know He-who-must-not-be-named; may rise at any time now." Hermione's eyes glanced to Draco and then to the Slytherin table. Hermione knew Draco was involved with Voldemort somehow. But she wasn't sure if she wanted to know about it, with them being on separate sides she was afraid it would affect her relationship with Draco. A mutter erupted across the hall, every person turning to his or her friends and gossiping. Dumbledore stood and clapped three times and the body of the hall silenced. He smiled at Hermione and gestured for her to continue.  
  
"As I was saying, if Voldemort does rise. No one panic. You will be safe as long as you stay inside the Hogwarts grounds. You will all assemble in here and wait for further orders from myself, Draco, a Professor or the Headmaster. As you already know, the forest is forbidden to anyone. So far Quidditch is still on as usual but at anytime may be cancelled if the Headmaster feels it is unsafe. Now that the dismal news is over Draco and I are here to deliver a bit of news that may just interest you all." Hermione stopped and glanced at Draco. It was Draco's turn to speak. "Right. Next week, we are holding a whole school dance." Draco paused and let the school mutter words of excitement. "It will commence on the 4th of February, from 5pm till midnight. The night will start with a feast, then the room will be cleared and a live band will be coming in. The Headmaster has asked everyone to be on his or her best behavior and if you are taking a date to the dance - " Draco was cut off by an outburst of giggles from the younger half of the school population and an excited buzz from the other half. Draco noticed that beside him Hermione giggled slightly at the school's reaction. "As I was saying," He looked over and Hermione and almost winked at her but remembered the whole school was watching especially Hermione's boyfriend. "If you are taking a date we ask that you keep your behavior at a G rated level please. Although, this dance is going to be slightly different to the Yule Ball a few years ago. Dress robes are not a necessity." Draco paused and finished the sentence with distaste. "It will be a muggle dress code, gowns and tuxedos." Draco finished and glanced at Hermione. "Thanks everybody. Have a great semester, and good luck to fellow seventh years starting their NEWT studies and to the fifth years starting their OWL studies." Hermione said cheerfully and walked back to her seat at the Gryffindor table as Draco returned to his seat at the Slytherin Table.  
  
Hermione sat next to Harry and rested her head on his shoulder. Ginny's eyes furtively looked up and watched Harry and Hermione. "4th of February... is our one year anniversary..." Harry whispered into Hermione's ear. Her eyes widened in shock. She'd completely forgotten but she couldn't lat Harry know that. "Why do you think I chose that date for the dance..." Hermione whispered back seductively. Harry smiled at Hermione and kissed her softly on the lips. Ginny felt her blood boil but shook her head not knowing what had gotten into her. She peeled her eyes away from Harry and started staring at the cutlery before her.  
  
After the feast the entire body of the school burst out of the hall and wandered back to their dorms in excited masses. Hermione took Harry's hand and he walked Hermione to her private Head Girl quarters on the third level, directly below the Gryffindor common room and dorms. They stopped at the portrait leading into Hermione's private dorm, Harry turned to look at Hermione. "The Gryffindor Tower isn't the same with out you..." He said looking down into Hermione's eyes. She flushed slightly and looked up at him. "It isn't like I can never go in there again..." Harry smiled slightly, cupping Hermione's face in his hands he leant down and kissed her. "Then again... there is no rule saying that you can't come into my dorms..." Hermione whispered into Harry's ear and she placed soft kisses down his neck. Harry grabbed Hermione's arms gently and stood back from her. "Don't; I won't be able to stop." Harry said looking away. Hermione nodded. "I love you so much Hermione..." "I know you do. And I love you. More then you'll ever know." Harry caressed Hermione's cheek gently with his hand. "See you tomorrow at breakfast." "Okay, goodnight then." Hermione kissed Harry on the cheek and stood and watched as he turned and jogged down the hall, off to the Gryffindor dorms.  
  
After the feast Draco watched Hermione and Harry leave the hall together. A burning feeling slowly crept up from Draco's stomach and into his throat. He suddenly found himself, trying hard to restrain himself from going and knocking Harry's lights out for touching his girlfriend. He had to remember that Hermione still loved Harry. 'What if Hermione ends up loving Harry more in the end?' Draco thought to himself. 'I'll never be able to hold her in my arms again...' He thought.  
  
"Draco..." It was Pansy; she ran her finger lightly up Draco's arm. "What are you thinking about so intently?" She said rather seductively. "Piss off Parkinson, you're not getting any from me." Pansy scoffed. "Why would I need you when I have a sex god at my own disposal." Pansy said, almost offended that Draco had even suggested that she wanted sex from him. Draco looked at Pansy. "There is some one better then me?" Draco said, raising an eyebrow. "Well..." Pansy looked around before continuing. "Between you and me... Voldemort and I are getting married." Pansy said trying her hardest to contain her glee and excitement. Draco nearly choked on his pumpkin juice. "What?" Draco scoffed. Pansy rolled her eyes. "You heard me..." Draco shook his head not wanting to hear or know anymore. He was already starting to get BAD mental images. Draco looked up at the door; Harry and Hermione had already left the hall. He swore slightly and ran out of the hall. Pansy frowned at Draco's sudden retreat. It suddenly dawned on her that she had to report to Voldemort, and so far she had nothing to report. So she jumped up from her seat and ran out of the hall after Draco.  
  
Meanwhile; over at the Gryffindor table, Ron, Ginny, Seamus and Dean noted Draco's speedy exit. "Wonder what got him running..." Ginny said indicating towards Draco as he bolted out of the doors. Ron looked up as Draco ran out of the hall with Pansy hot on his heels. He scoffed slightly. "Well, look what's chasing him." Seamus, Dean and Ginny erupted in giggles at Ron's comment.  
  
Once out of the hall Draco looked right and left, wondering which way Harry and Hermione could've gone. As if in perfect timing a first year came jumping down the stairs three at a time. Draco grabbed him by the robes and shook him slightly. He put on his typically, frightening Slytherin face and tone of voice. "Have you seen Potter and his mudblood girlfriend?" "Y-yes M- M-Malfoy. They were headed towards the Gryffindor tower." The defenseless first year stuttered pointing in the direction of the Gryffindor dorms. Draco figured that they were probably headed to Hermione's Head Girl dorms. Draco, being Head Boy – also had his own Head Boy dorms located on the third level. It hadn't ever occurred to him to find out where the Head Girl dorms were. Draco let go of the terrified First Year and ran off up the stairs, in the direction of the Gryffindor dorms.  
  
Draco took the stairs three at a time. He turned left into the main hallway of the third level and was about to take the immediate right up the stairs towards the Gryffindor Tower when he heard a familiar voice. He stopped and crept further down the hall, towards the voice and now another voice. He came to a halt just before another hallway branched off to the right. He could hear the two people clearly now.  
  
"I love you so much Hermione..." "I know you do. And I love you. More then you'll ever know."  
  
There was a pause in the conversation. Draco had to bite down on his bottom lip to stop himself from storming around the corner and pummeling Harry. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. Hermione still loved Harry. Of course he already knew that, but 'more then you'll ever know'. Draco was fuming, and his blood boiled more and more the longer the silence went on. He could only imagine what Potter might be doing to his girlfriend. Finally, Harry spoke again.  
  
"See you tomorrow at breakfast." "Okay, goodnight then."  
  
Suddenly he heard footsteps, approaching him fast. Draco figured that it must be Harry heading to the Gryffindor common room. Draco looked around frantically, trying to find a place to hide. And then he saw it, a suit of Armour sitting in its own little alcove in the stonewall. He dashed across the hallway and jumped up into the alcove and slipped in between the Armour and the wall; hidden from sight. With Draco's slender bone structure it was easy for him to get into the small gap. He heard Harry's heavy footstep clunk past the Armour and up the stairs.  
  
Draco couldn't waste time. He jumped out from behind the Armour and raced down the corridor and skidded around the corner into which Hermione's dorm was located. He was just in time; a portrait half way down the hall was closing slowly. 'Shit...' Draco muttered under his breath. He pelted down the hallway and jammed his foot between the closing portrait and the wall, stopping the portrait from fully closing just in time. He pulled the portrait back open and slid inside.  
  
Pansy ran out of the hallway after Draco just in time to see him running up the stairs. She ran after him, not being as fast as Draco was at running; she followed the sound of his running feet. She followed him up to the third level but his footsteps stopped. She slowed down to a jog and then a slow walk. She listened closely. She could hear the murmur of voices but wasn't sure whether they were coming from the right of the stairs or the left. She decided to take the left turn first. She wandered down the hall slowly, her ears listening intently for any sound. The voices were fading away as she went further. "Damn... it's down the other end of the third level..." Pansy cursed turning around and heading for the right corridor of the third level. Little did she know she was heading straight for Draco, Harry and Hermione.  
  
As she got closer to the staircase once more she could hear footsteps. She stopped dead in her tracks, having nowhere to run and hide. Before she knew it Harry came walking out of the corridor and up the stairs towards the Gryffindor tower. Pansy sighed with relief that he hadn't seen her. "Draco must be down there..." Pansy said venturing down the corridor towards Draco. She was just in time to see Draco jump out from behind a suit of armour and run down another corridor. She immediately raced off after Draco. She turned into the corridor in which Draco had gone down. He was gone, the hallway was empty. "Damn it!" Pansy said, chucking a slight tantrum. She then turned on her heel and stormed off towards the dungeons.

----  
  
_AN2- Sorry that it took so long for this chappy. I've been really busy with school and stuff. I hope you liked the chappy. So how's my story going? Do you like the way it's going, if not tell me why and how you think I can improve it. Thankies  
  
AN3- Oh yer, just answer these two questions for me in your review please...  
  
Should Ginny or Ron die? I can't decide... Should I start writing a sequel?  
  
Thanks ppl, you're all champs grins _


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**The Price of a World**

**Chapter Thirteen**

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AN- Uhm... yer, sorry I'm being really slow with my story... This is only a short chappy coz the next one is long ... Well sort of. I've been busy with school so you'll have to bear with me on this one. I'm working on a newer and better fan fic so. I'm trying my hardest not to abandon this one.

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Behind the portrait was a short stone corridor. Fire flickered from metal brackets set in the walls. The golden flames dimly lighting the passageway. Draco ventured slowly down the hallway. He could hear Hermione bustling about in her small common room. He stopped in the shadows of the doorway and watched Hermione.

She placed her rucksack on the couch and pulled the textbooks and parchment from it. She returned the textbooks to the shelf where she kept all her books and stuffed the parchment into a draw in her desk. Pulling her wand from her robe pocket she lit the fire. Its flames instantly warming the small common room. With one hand, she skilfully pulled the clasp from her hair and the curly locks fell about her face and hung loosely half way down her back. Crossing the room from her desk to the fire, she knelt down beside the comforting flames. Their welcoming warmth swept over her and she let her eyelids slowly close. The intoxicatingly good smell of burning pine wafting up her nose. Slowly she opened her eyes; she had a feeling as if she was being watched. Her hand slid slowly into her pocket and her fingers wrapped around her wand. She opened her eyes and turned her head slowly to the doorway. A slight scream escaped from her lips. A figure was standing in the archway to the short corridor. The figure was bathed in shadows; the firelight flickering and falling upon some of the person's features giving them an intimidating look.

"Who – who's there?" Hermione said; her voice an octave higher then usual and her hand gripped tightly around her wand. The figure laughed slightly. They made a move to step into the room. Hermione jumped up to her feet and pulled her wand out – pointing it straight at the person. "Don't come any further." The figure put their hands up and stepped into the light.

"Hermione, it's just me." Draco said, laughing slightly. Hermione let go of a long held breath and lowered her trembling wand hand.

"Don't DO that Draco. You scared the shit out of me!" Hermione crossed the room to Draco's comforting embrace.

"I love you..." Hermione whispered.

"And I love you. _More then you'll ever know_." Draco said with a hint of spite in his voice. Hermione pulled away from Draco and looked up at him.

"Pardon?" She said slowly. Draco looked down at her through icy grey eyes. Hermione had never seen Draco's eyes so cold and menacing. "H- How..." Hermione paused, trying to choose the right words. "How long were you hiding around the corner in the hallway?" She asked, raising and eyebrow. Draco looked at her dumbstruck.

"How'd you know I was hi- " He stopped short. She had tricked him. It was one of the first things his father ever taught him. Never admit to something until the interrogator lays it out for you. Hermione smirked up at him.

"So, why'd you hide? Did you want to see what Harry and I were doing? Did you want to listen to what we were saying? Don't you _trust_ me Draco?" Hermione said, her voice rising in volume and annoyance.

"Well I'm glad I _did_ listen!" Draco retorted, yelling right back at Hermione. "More then you'll ever know? Jesus, I can't believe I just wasted 2 months being in love with some one who didn't even love me! Why didn't you just tell me you wanted to be with that prat, Potter!"

"So that's what I am? A waste of two months!?"

"Yes! A WASTE! Fucking hell!" Draco threw up his arms and stalked away to the other side of the room. Tears welled in Hermione's eyes but she pushed them back.

"I do love you Draco, I love so much! So terribly much..." Hermione stopped; her throat was choked up. She had given up trying to hold in the tears and they slid freely down her flushed cheeks and dripped to the floor. Draco spoke with his back still to Hermione; he was staring out the large bay window that looked over the lake.

"Just go to Potter if you really love him so much..." Draco sounded defeated.

"And if I don't want to?"

"What are you talking about? You love him and you want to be with him, just go. I can't believe I ever fooled myself into thinking a mudblood could love _me_ or that _I_ could love a mudblood." When Draco finished there was a long pause. He turned around to see why Hermione wasn't responding only to receive a heavy looking book being hurled at him. With Draco's seeker reflexes he was able to dodge the book just in time. His eyes darted from the book thudding to the floor to Hermione. Her face was flushed a deep shade of red and tears streamed down her face.

"I am NOT a mudblood! How _dare_ you call me that Draco!" Draco just looked back at her, a look of challenge in his eyes. "So you're right. I love Harry."

"AHAH!" Draco threw his arms up in the air in triumph. "I knew you did! And you tried to deny it all this time!"

"Is this just a game to you Draco? A game that you have to win by being right? What do you want? Do you want me to actually leave you and go back to Harry? Anyway, I have not finished..." Hermione said through grit teeth. "Of course I love Harry. I love Harry as I love Ron and Ginny. They are my closest friends, Draco. Don't you understand?" Draco looked at Hermione, she wasn't lying. Fresh tears welled in Hermione's eyes, her cheeks were flushed from yelling at Draco and her eyes were red and swollen. Draco sighed.

"I'm – I'm sorry." Draco turned from Hermione and collapsed onto the couch by the window. Hermione sighed, thinking that maybe she'd been a little too harsh. She went over and sat at his feet, resting her head on his knee. Draco stroked her long curly hair with his hand.

"I love you Draco, I love you so much more then I could _ever_ love Harry. And don't you ever forget that. There is no need to be jealous - "

"Jealous?" Draco choked. "Who said I was jealous?" Draco could feel a flush of colour rise from his shirt collar. Hermione giggled slightly.

"Draco, Harry has nothing on you. And he never will." Hermione cupped Draco's face in her hands and kissed his lips gently.

"Damn straight Potter has nothing on me. He could never be as good as me." Hermione rolled her eyes and kissed Draco again.

---

Pansy stormed into the Slytherin common room, slamming the portrait door behind her. She stomped up the stairs into her dorm and slammed the door shut. She paced her room.

'He must have been spying on Potter and his girlfriend. Draco's mission must be to find out Potter's weaknesses..." Pansy thought fiercely as she paced her room. She stopped dead in her tracks as a wicked smirk crept onto her face.

"I'll tell Voldemort myself. I'll show Voldemort how loyal I am. He'll adore me for it." She said aloud. Immediately she ran to her desk and pulled out 2 pieces of parchment and a quill accompanied by a green-ink, inkbottle. As soon as she touched quill to parchment she was set to write a full pledged letter to Voldemort about the whole matter.

---

After saying good night to Hermione, Harry jogged off down the hall and took the slight of stairs two at a time up to the 4th level. He turned and dawdled down the corridor towards to Portrait of the Fat Lady. He was half way there when a little house elf came running up to him.

"Mister Potter! Mister Potter!" It squeaked. It was waving a letter about in its little hand. Harry bent down and took the letter in which was addressed to him.

"Thank you." Harry said as the elf clicked its fingers and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Harry opened the letter and read it quickly.

"_Mr. Potter._

_Please report to my office as soon as you receive this letter._

_Dumbledore."_

Sighing, Harry folded the letter and placed it in his pocket. He turned on his heel and headed off towards Dumbledore's office.

---

AN: Okay. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. As I already explained at the beginning of this chappy. I might post the next chapter within a few hours depending if I finish it and I like it enough to post for you all.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**The Price of a World**

**Chapter Fourteen**

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**AN- WARNING!!!! OotP spoiler in this chapter! DON'T READ THIS CHAPTER IF YOU DON'T WANT THE BOOK RUINED! If you haven't read the 5th Harry Potter book... Hurry up and read it so you can read my story dammit xP **

* * *

"_Mr. Potter._

_Please report to my office as soon as you receive this letter._

_Dumbledore."_

Sighing, Harry folded the letter and placed it in his pocket. He turned on his heel and headed off towards Dumbledore's office.

"Sugar dumplings." Harry whispered to the large stone gargoyle. Slowly, the stone figure moved aside to reveal a grand stone staircase. It twisted round and round, going the whole two levels up to Dumbledore's office. Harry jumped onto the winding stairs and waited as it brought him up to the door to Dumbledore's office. He stepped off the staircase and onto the majestic Persian rug in which lay before the tall oak doors to Dumbledore's office. Harry lifted his hand to knock on the door when it swung wide open to reveal Dumbledore sitting at his desk stroking Fawkes.

"Do come in Harry. I've been expecting you..." Slowly Harry stepped into the room and the door shut behind him. Dumbledore motioned to the chair in front of him. Harry crossed the room quickly and sat in the chair opposite Dumbledore. Dumbledore smiled at Harry, and Harry smiled uneasily back. There was a long silence between the two.

"Uhm, Headmaster. You wished to see me for some reason?"

"Yes Harry. I did. Firstly, there will be a Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin in two days time. I've already informed the Slytherin Captain, Draco Malfoy." Harry looked at Dumbledore, expecting the serious side of this meeting. "Harry, I don't know how to say this next part..." Harry was slowly loosing his temper; he still hadn't really forgiven Dumbledore. He blamed Dumbledore for Sirius not being with him anymore.

"Just say it." Harry said through gritted teeth.

"Harry, I'm doubting our chances..."

"Our chances?"

"Yes. Well _your_ chances..."

"My chances... at - " Harry paused. "At defeating Voldemort?"

"Yes Harry. Frankly, I just don't think you are strong enough to defeat him. From what I hear from Moody, your training was lacking over the holidays and your skills seem to be declining instead of inclining." Dumbledore said rather calmly. There was a long pause from Harry.

"Well, I'm obviously not good enough to defeat your dark lord. You'll just have to go find someone else to defeat him to save all of your sorry arses." Harry stood and left Dumbledore sitting in his chair stunned at Harry's reaction.

Harry stormed down the corridor towards the Gryffindor dorms. 'How could he even say that? He has a damned nerve to even...' Harry tossed thoughts around in his head. But he was determined, that he was not going to fight Voldemort to save people like Dumbledore and the Dursley's. By now it was nearly midnight and most of the schools population were asleep preparing for classes the next morning. Harry trudged into the common room and up the staircase into his dorm. He collapsed onto his bed and slept a disturbing sleep filled with nightmares and visions of his past and of his parents.

* * *

"_My dearest Sweety Pie,_

_As always, I have been faithful to you and kept strictly to my mission. I have been keeping an eye on Draco and he seems to be keeping to his mission. However, I have a bit of information you might find useful. Potter is dating the mudblood, Granger. She would make a nice target for you. I can tell you anything about her. Her parents are mudblood dentists and the mudblood is good friends with the Weasley family. If we target her, we'll strike them **all** where it hurts._

_My dearest, I miss you everyday and long to be with you again._

_Faithfully yours;_

_Pansy. xox "_

Voldemort read the letter slowly, a smirk rising on his face with every word. He tossed the letter into the fire and looked across the table to Lucius Malfoy.

"It looks as if we have our target." Voldemort crowed. Lucius smirked.

"May I enquire?"

"A mudblood. Potter's _girlfriend_." The two men cackled wickedly as psychotic plans crept into their minds on how to dispose of the mudblood in a way in which would effect Harry, Dumbledore, the Weasley family and the muggles that knew her.

* * *

Draco sat on the couch with Hermione's head resting in his lap. She dozed slightly and Draco stroked her hair. The fire burned strong, filling the common room with warmth.

"Hermione..." Draco whispered.

"Mmmm..." Hermione murmured, half asleep.

"I'd better go."

"Mmmm... No, don't go... not yet." She muttered, rousing slightly. Draco bent down and kissed her forehead. He lifted her body with ease and placed her back on the couch. Hermione rubbed her eyes and sat up.

"I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast." Draco winked at her and walked over to the fireplace.

"Where are you going? I thought you were going back to you Head Boy dorms?" Draco laughed, slightly amused.

"That is where I am going. My dorms are in the next corridor along..."

"But..." Hermione looked at Draco, puzzled. Draco shook his head slightly and walked over to the fireplace. He placed his hand on a brick in the wall next to the fireplace. This brick was slightly lighter then the other bricks. Applying a little pressure the brick gave way and sank into the wall a few inches. Hermione watched, wide eyed with curiosity and exhaustion. Once the brink sank into the wall a few inches a large slab of the wall, large enough for a person to fit through; slid open.

"Draco. Where does that – How did you know?" Draco smirked at her.

"Lets just say, I know quite a few secret passages around the castle and this one is one that has been passed down through Slytherin Head Boy or Head Girl history."

"So it leads to your private dorms?"

"Yep." Neat huh? No one will ever see me coming to you or you coming to me." He said with a hint of a crude manner in his voice when mention the last sentence. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"No need to make a simple issue like discovering a secret passage way between our dorms, kinky." Hermione mocked as she stood and kissed Draco on the cheek.

"Good night." Draco said before turning and ducking through the small gap. Before Hermione reply the stone slab slid back into place and you'd never know that there had been an opening there a few minutes before. Slowly, Hermione sauntered up the staircase and into her bedroom. Collapsing onto her bed in exhaustion she fell asleep straight away, still dressed in her school robes.

* * *

Once Draco reached his own private dorms, a letter was waiting for him on the small table before the fire. He opened it with deft fingers and read over its contents.

"_Mister Malfoy,_

_A Quidditch game between the Slytherin Team and Gryffindor will commence in two days time. Good luck, train hard and may the best team win._

_Headmaster,_

_Dumbledore. _"

Draco tossed the letter into the fire. 'Damn.' He muttered under his breath before retiring to his chamber.

* * *

The next day flew by with everyone starting classes for the new semester and the Gryffindor and Slytherin team fighting for the Quidditch pitch to jam in a bit of extra training before the match the next morning. Every student was on edge, whether it be the stress of starting back at school and being crammed with homework or the friction between the Slytherin house and the Gryffindor house. Hermione found it hard to get a few seconds alone with Draco. He was so busy with training his Quidditch team and Hermione was busy with having double the amount of classes any other student had. Hermione couldn't even find time to see Harry or Ron. They were both training vigorously as was Ginny. It wasn't until dinnertime that Hermione could finally sit down with Harry and Ron. It was the first time she'd seen them since the night before. Besides in class but Hermione was concentrating too hard and Ron and Harry were busy writing down Quidditch strategies.

Harry and Ron looked utterly worn out. Their faces were grubby with sweat and mud and their Quidditch robes didn't look much better. Draco and his team however, were nowhere to be seen.

"Where are the Slytherin team?" Hermione enquired as naturally as possible.

"They're making as much use of the pitch as possible, whilst we aren't there." Replied Ron with a mouth full of Shepard's pie.

Harry hadn't spoken to anyone about his conversation with Dumbledore the night before, nor was he intending to. He only wanted to concentrate on winning this Quidditch match, although he found it hard to keep his mind on the match whilst thoughts of his parents flashed through his mind.

Ron and Harry went to bed early along with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Hermione waited in the Great Hall until everyone was gone and the plates were cleared away. There was still no sign of the Slytherin team. It was nearly 10pm before Hermione packed away her homework and went back to her dorms. She entered her common room to find the couch and table covered in red rose petals. On the table there was a letter sitting next to a red rose and a neatly folded Slytherin scarf.

"_Hermione,_

_So sorry I couldn't spend any time with you today. I admired you in class and found great amusement in your concentrating facial expressions." _Hermione blushed as she read, she could see herself working intently and having Draco watch her every movement. "I_ thought about you every minute I wasn't with you. The scarf is for you, to remind you of me... And so you don't forget who the best house is." _Hermione laughed slightly. 'Slytherin the best house? I think not...' She said to herself before reading on. "_I'll look for you in the stands tomorrow... You'll be the only green robed person in the sea of red right? With all my heart, Draco."_

Hermione giggled and smiled inwardly. 'Tomorrow shall be very interesting indeed.' She said as she took the green scarf in her hands, clutched it to her chest and closed the door behind her as she entered her bedroom.

* * *

It was the morning of _the_ match. It wasn't even dawn and Hermione was awake sitting on her bed. She crossed her legs and stared out the window. The sky was grey and cloudy, yet the sun persisted on pushing through the small gaps between clouds. She was biting her nails; she only bit them when she was nervous. She forced herself to stop and concentrated on the dusty floorboards. She had been dreading this day. The day the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams played on the pitch together. Both teams fighting to win, rivalry was written in the expressions on their faces. She sighed and tried not to think about it.

Right at that moment Harry burst through her dorm door. He was already dressed in his Quidditch robes. He stood in the doorway smiling at her. Hermione loved Harry's smile, it was so cute, yet it had a cheeky look about it. Hermione just had to smile back he was irresistible. Harry closed the door and came over to her. He scooped her up in his arms and spun her around on the spot. Hermione laughed. He bent his head down and kissed her.

"Morning," He said as he put her back on the bed.

"Morning." Hermione replied.

"Come on, get dressed." Harry said getting her cloak and Gryffindor scarf out of her wardrobe.

"Harry, it isn't even light yet."

"Well your awake aren't you. So why not get dressed..." He grinned at her again. Harry was always like this on the morning of a Quidditch match. Quidditch was one of the most important things to Harry; it was his passion. And he was good at it. As usual, Hermione crumbled under Harry's grin and his happy mood. She got off the bed, collected her clothes from her drawers, making sure to push the Slytherin scarf to the back of the draw so Harry couldn't see it and went into the bathroom to get dressed.

Hermione had her usual school uniform on. She dabbed abit of perfume onto her wrists, temple and neck. Ran abit of passion fruit lip-gloss across her lips to give a wet shine effect. Her hair was being annoying this morning. She gathered it all up and put it loosely in a clasp making sure a few ringlets where hanging down, to top it all off she slipped a frangipani flower into the top of her bun. She was about to go back into her room where Harry was waiting for her when she noticed her mascara sitting on the bench. She must have forgotten to repack it before the holidays. She picked it up and brushed it lightly against her upper lashes. Hermione admired it in the mirror; she liked how it made her chocolate brown eyes stand out. She glided out of the bathroom dressed and ready, closing the door behind her. Harry was sitting on the bed waiting for her.

"Ok, I'm ready." Hermione went over and sat at the window seat.

"Your beautiful," Harry said. Hermione blushed. It sounded different coming from Harry and not Draco. She wanted to tell Harry, she wanted so badly to tell him. Tell him everything about her and Draco. She didn't like living this lie. She hated keeping things from him, but this was worse. She loved Draco and it was tearing her up inside having to pretend to Harry that she loved him.

Pretend... no not pretend. She loved Harry, but in a completely different way that she loved Draco. She loved Harry as a friend; they knew everything about each other. But her love for Draco... was much, much different. She missed him every second she wasn't with him. A flood of happiness, love, friendship, compassion, besieged her when she saw him. And when she watched him leave emotions of the complete opposite overwhelmed her. She was happy when he was, she was sad when he was. She was brave when he was. She couldn't help being anxious when he was flying in a Quidditch match or in a fight with Harry and Ron. She didn't want to see him hurt. She hated seeing his face when he was sad. But joy and happiness spread throughout her body when he was happy. She loved every inch of him and it excited her to learn more about him everyday.

"Hermione? Are you ok?" It was Harry; she must have gone off into a trance. "Off with the fairies?" Harry laughed, but she just smiled.

"Sorry, I'm just tired."

"Well let's go downstairs and have something to eat." Hermione and Harry walked down to the Great Hall together. They saw Ron immediately. He was dressed in his Quidditch robes, which were back to front, and his hair scruffy and obviously not brushed. He was sitting at the table by himself, eating his cereal with a knife. Except in his bowl was orange juice and in his glass was cereal. He was sitting staring at nothing. Hermione fought to hold back giggles.

"Poor Ron, he must be so nervous." They sat opposite him.

"Hey mate, how are you?" Harry asked.

"Every match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, Slytherins mock me. Singing a stupid song with Malfoy leading them. Making me feel stupid. I get so nervous I practically let the Slytherins win the match. How do you think I feel?" Ron said still staring at nothing in particular.

Ginny, dressed in her Quidditch robes entered the hall with her usual fan club of boys following her. Today the fan club consisted of Neville, Dean, Colin, Seamus, Brendon a 6th year from Ravenclaw and Dennis and Jeremy – twins- 3rd years from Hufflepuff.

Hermione poured herself some cereal as the hall doors slammed open and the whole Slytherin Quidditch team entered the hall. Walking in a V shape, they looked quite smart and they sure did make an effect on the people sitting in the hall. In the corner of her eye she could've sworn she saw Lavender faint. Hermione saw Draco briefly; he had his usual smirk smeared across his face as he strutted over to the Slytherin table for breakfast. She smiled to herself at how sexy he looked in his Quidditch robes and clutched at her bag in which contained her Slytherin scarf.

"Don't worry Ron, you're a good Quidditch player. Don't put yourself down all the time." It was Ginny. At some moment when Hermione was dreaming about Draco she had come in and sat next to Ron.

"Oi Gin, Ron. We have to get down to the pitch now." Harry leaned over to kiss Hermione; she subconsciously leaned into the kiss. It was long and passionate. She could feel how badly Harry loved her in his kisses.

"Good Luck." Hermione said and Harry kissed her again. He then got up from the table and left the hall with Ron and Ginny in tow. She now sat alone at the Gryffindor table with Neville, Dean, Colin and Seamus. Hermione glanced over to the Slytherin table. Draco was looking at her. She looked away quickly. 'God I hope he didn't see Harry kissing me like that. I don't want a repeat of the other night...' Hermione thought to herself. She had to look at him again just to make sure, she glanced back over to the table but he had gone, she just caught a glimpse of him leaving the hall.

"Hermione, could you pass the juice please." Neville asked. Hermione gave him the juice jug. They ate their breakfast in silence as the rest of the school bustled into the hall in an excited frenzy. It was a big issue at Hogwarts when Slytherin and Gryffindor versed each other. Hermione heard a screech and looked up towards the windows. The post had arrived. She never received letters from anyone and she was very surprised when an owl landed in front of her and held out its leg. She took the letter off its leg and it flew away.

Hermione opened it. It looked like it had been written in a rush. The handwriting was instantly recognizable. She read it;

"Meet me on the south end of the pitch, behind the stands. No one goes that far round."

She scrunched up the parchment and put it in her pocket.

"Sorry guys, I have to go get something. Save me a seat will you?" Neville and Dean nodded, their mouths full. Hermione got up and left the hall. She broke into a run down to the pitch. It was quite cold outside, even though it was the middle of spring. Most of the snow had melted but the grass and trees were covered in a misty frost.

When she reached the south end of the stadium. There was no one there. Just a stretch of grass leading to the forbidden forest. She could hear people filing into the stands way above her. She walked a little further along the side of the stadium. The crack of a twig came from behind her. She turned around only to see a dark shadow leaning against the wall. Partly hidden in the shadows. She smiled. Draco stepped forward out of the shadows, walked over and stood in front of her. Hermione stood looking up into his grey eyes. He smiled and slid his arms around her waist. Hermione did the same but slid her arms inside his large warm coat. Draco took each side of his coat and wrapped it around her. Hermione rested her head on his chest while Draco kissed the top of her head gently.

"I missed you yesterday..." Draco whispered.

"I missed you too. I got the scarf." Hermione replied, smiling into his chest.

"Oh really? I always thought green suited you better then red." Hermione laughed and hugged Draco tighter. They stood like this in silence for a while until Draco spoke again.

"I have to get back to the change rooms."

"Just a few more minutes." Draco took Hermione face into his hands. He leant down and kissed her. He loved the taste of her lip-gloss and he increased the intensity of the kiss. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck while Draco pulled her closer to him.

"I love your smell and your taste..." Draco whispered as he continued to kiss her hungrily. Regretfully Hermione pulled away.

"You should get going...The match is starting soon." She smiled and rested her head on his chest again.

"Hmm... I guess I'd better." He kissed her head and turned east which headed to the Slytherin dressing rooms.

"Good Luck Draco." Hermione said as he started to walk away. He stopped and came back to her. He picked her up in his arms and kissed her again. Hermione smiled.

"What brought that on?" Hermione asked.

"Do I need a reason to kiss my girlfriend?" Hermione laughed.

"Your girlfriend?" Hermione smiled and kissed him fervently. "I love you." Hermione whispered.

"I love you too." Draco replied as he put her back on the ground. The roar of the school up in the stands was almost deafening. Draco looked towards the Slytherin change rooms on the eastern side. Hermione sighed.

"Okay, go on. Get going." Hermione said, she stood there watching him as he ran back to the change rooms. She realized the match was to start soon and she pelted back to the Gryffindor stands. She found Neville and Dean easily; they were seated in the very top row of the stands. Right near the back as usual. She pushed through the crowd of Slytherins and sat in the seat they had saved for her.

The match had started. Green and red figures whizzing around the stadium. The quaffle flying from player to player and the bludgers hurtling in all directions. Gryffindor scored and the roar from the crowd was deafening. Slytherin scored again, and again. The Slytherins cheers only just managing to drown out the boo's of the rest of the school.

"Ron! He's goofing up. Oh MAN! Did you see that! He could've saved that if he'd stopped mucking around and sliding off his broom!" Neville said, hitting his head. To the left of her, Lavender jumped up on her seat and yelled with her screechy voice.

"RON YOU IDIOT! WATCH THE QUAFFLE! DON'T LET IT IN THE HOOPS!" Hermione watched Draco circle the stadium high above the other players through her binoculars. Harry was also circling the stadium.

Whilst circling the stadium, Draco and Harry met half way.

"Hey Scar head, your lousy keeper is practically letting us win!" Draco laughed as he sat back on his broom. Harry deliberately ran his broom into Draco as he passed him. Luckily Draco had good reflexes and grabbed onto his broom to stop himself from falling. Draco sneered at Harry but he just flew off down the other end of the pitch. Whereas Draco went in the opposite direction, towards where Hermione was sitting. He slowed down when he came to her, he saw Hermione looking up at him intently. He winked at her and sped off around the pitch again. Hermione smiled to herself.

"Slytherin scores again..." Came Colin Creavy's voice over the loud speaker, he didn't sound very impressed at all. "Slytherin leading the way on 130 - 20..." He said again sounding very tedious. Hermione could see Draco punching the air in triumph as his team scored again. She was appalled at herself when she realized that she too was over-joyed at Slytherin's score.

Draco scanned the pitch with his eyes, searching for the snitch. When at last he saw it. He couldn't believe his luck; he glanced over to Harry. He hadn't noticed. Draco kept his eyes on the tiny, golden flicker hovering a few feet above the Slytherin goal posts.

Harry wasn't even looking for the snitch, his eyes scanned the pitch but he wasn't paying attention. He was thinking of Hermione, he was thinking of his parents, of Sirius, of Dumbledore's conversation and of Voldemort's death eaters. Suddenly, movement from the corner of his eye drew him from his thoughts. It was Draco. He was making a dive.

It all happened so fast. Draco went into a nosedive for the snitch, Harry noticed Draco and went after him. They were speeding towards the snitch. Neither Harry nor Draco slowed down. They kept at it. They were on the snitch's' tail.

Draco was determined to get the snitch, to win against Harry. To show Hermione that he was better. Draco reached his arm out in front of him.

Harry was determined to get the snitch. If Gryffindor lost, it would be his entire fault. He wasn't concentrating. How could he concentrate? He just couldn't let Slytherin win. 'Slytherin can't win this match.' Harry muttered. 'Voldemort can't win this battle.' Harry's hand slipped and he swerved to his right, closer to Draco.

Harry rammed into Draco.

Draco shoved him back.

It was as if they were in some sort of time warp. It seemed like minutes had passed and he hadn't gotten any closer to the snitch.

Inch by inch; Harry and Draco's outstretched hands got closer to the wavering ball of gold.

Harry rammed Draco again.

Draco swerved slightly.

Regaining momentum, Draco collided with Harry once more.

Inch by inch. The snitch grew closer to Draco's fingertips.

Inch by inch. The snitch grew closer to Harry's fingertips.

The snitch was fluttering rapidly inside Draco's sweaty hand.

He had caught the snitch.

He had won.

Slytherin had won.

Harry had lost the snitch.

Gryffindor had lost.

Harry Potter the-boy-who-lived; was no more.

The Slytherin's roared with an exultant cheer. They had beaten Gryffindor and _the-boy-who-lived_. The rest of the school was quiet. The Gryffindor team landed and exited the stadium in a defeated silence. The Slytherin team all landed, they all rushed over to Draco and showered him in praise, cheers and pats on the back. Hermione even found herself nearly leaping from her seat and joining the Slytherins in praising Draco when she remembered her place as a Gryffindor. The Slytherins jumped the barrier and flooded the pitch, congratulating their Quidditch Team.

Slowly, the rest of the school exited the stadium and went glumly to lunch before their afternoon classes started. Hermione knew she didn't have a chance of getting near Draco so she went back to her dorm to collect her books before classes. She turned her back on the Quidditch Stadium and meandered up to the castle without a thought about Harry, Ron, Ginny, her Quidditch Team or her house. Hermione was too happy that Draco had won to be upset for Harry.

* * *

AN – Okay, that chapter was supposed to be up the other day but I thought I'd put the Quidditch match and Dumbledore's meeting with Harry in the same chapter. Sorry about the Quidditch match to all you Quidditch buffs out there. I suck at writing Quidditch matches. However, I'll just quickly explain the bit at the end of the Quidditch match. Incase it doesn't make sense or you want to know why I did it. I guess it is sort of symbolic of what is to come in my story. It is sort of like; Draco stands for Voldemort and the Dark Side and Harry stands for well, himself. Since he has abandoned Dumbledore and 'The Order" because they abandoned him by not believing in him to win the battle for them. I'll give you two little examples of the ending of the Quidditch match being symbolic.

"**Harry had lost the snitch."** Well the snitch is a small, delicate creature. I call it a creature because I believe the snitch to sort of be alive, like it has a spirit. Just think about a snitch and what it looks like. I've gotten the impression that the snitch is something very pure and beautiful. This line, symbolises something that Harry will lose, or already has lost. –hint hint-

"**He had won." **Okay this one is a little tough. Draco had won, meaning to him; it was like he had won Hermione. That whole match wasn't about defeating Gryffindor; it was competing against Harry _for_ Hermione. But don't get me wrong, Draco loves Hermione and everything and he doesn't see the whole thing as winning Hermione. It was also like Draco has proven to himself more than proven to Harry that he was worthy of Hermione and that he deserved her better then anyone else and that she deserved him instead of Harry. It's hard to explain xP

Hope you liked this chapter. And I can't wait to finish the next chapter. Voldemort actually makes a bigger appearance in the next chappy!! Yaay? xP


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**The Price of a World**

**Chapter Fifteen**

* * *

"I'm worried Lupin." 

"What about?" Lupin looked across the table at Tonks, concerned.

"I've just got a gut feeling that something bad is going to happen…" She said quietly, gripping the mug in hands a little tighter. Charlie and Moody looked at Tonks. They were all sitting around the table at 12 Grimmauld Place eating breakfast in a glum silence.

"I miss them all being here Lupin. When Harry, Hermione and Ron were around I felt as if I could protect them." She let out a slight, halfhearted laugh. "Funny, when it's really them who will be protecting us in the end…" Lupin smiled and placed his hand on top of Tonks'. Charlie stood and placed his dishes in the sink.

"I'd best be off now." Everyone said a quiet goodbye and Charlie apparated off to the Burrow with a pop. Moody turned to Lupin.

"I'll be in the office, when you're ready." Lupin nodded solemnly in reply, he smiled a comforting smile towards Tonks before following Moody up to the office.

* * *

Hermione jumped happily down the stairs from her bedroom into her common room. She hummed happily to herself, the Slytherin scarf tied neatly around her neck.

"Someone's happy." Hermione stopped in her tracks. There in front of her; leaning against the fireplace with the secret passage door open behind him. Hair hanging damp around his face from the showers. His cheeks flushed from both a hot shower and the excitement of winning the match; was Draco. Hermione flushed the colour of the Gryffindor wallpaper.

"Is it a crime to by happy?" She retorted slyly, batting her eyelashes.

"Not at all. So you wouldn't happen to be…" Draco paused as he took two swift steps so as he was standing in front of Hermione. "…overjoyed that I won the match?" He asked, whispering in her ear; his hot breath brushing against Hermione's cheek. Hermione let out a deep, shuddering breath.

"No…" She breathed.

"I think you're telling a little fib, Miss Granger." Draco's hair brushed across Hermione's cheek as he planted gentle kisses down her neck to her collarbone. Hermione's knee's buckled with excitement, pleasure and nervousness. Draco slid his arms around her waist and lifted her, to both keep her standing and to bring her closer. Instinctively Hermione wrapped her legs around Draco's waist when he lifted her.

"You're beautiful…" Draco whispered to Hermione before placing his lips on hers. The kiss was gentle at first but the devotion they shared made the kiss grow stronger and more passionate. Their tongues delved into each other's mouths; exploring, learning, feeling.

"Has Harry invited you to the Ball yet?" Draco asked as he sat on the couch with Hermione still in his lap. Hermione paused as if to think over her answer. Draco raised a brow in anticipation.

"No. No, he hasn't." Draco took Hermione's hands in his, brought them up to his lips and kissed them softly. Hermione looked away from Draco's gaze, and pretended to be interested in the pattern of the carpet.

"Are… Are you going to ask someone to the Ball?" Hermione asked, still busying herself with studying the carpet. At first, Draco was surprised by her question. He leaned back in the couch and smirked.

"There's someone I might ask. It all depends." Hermione's eyes went wide and her head snapped around to look at Draco.

"Who? Who is she? And what does it depend on?"

"It depends on whether she'll consent to being my date for the evening." Hermione's face seemed to droop.

"I'm sure any girl you chose would willingly go with you to the Ball." Hermione said as naturally as possible, trying to hide the pang of jealousy nagging at her heart. Draco just smirked and watched Hermione's angelic facial features slowly contort with anxiety. He waited for her to crack.

"Who's the girl you want to take to the Ball?" Hermione finally blurted out. Draco smiled and leaned back, looking at the ceiling.

"Well she has these amazing eyes." Hermione stared at Draco with big brown eyes. "And her hair, wow. A shock of chocolate brown locks." Hermione shifted slightly on Draco's lap, allowing a curl to slip out from behind her ear. "Her body, talk about an hour glass figure. And her skin is perfectly darkened by the summer sun." Tears welled in Hermione's eyes, a drop slipping down her cheek and falling onto her tanned arm. Draco lifted his head and looked at Hermione. She quickly wiped the tears away from her eyes.

"She sounds really pretty." Draco smirked at her comment.

"Yes. She's beautiful. A real angel."

"So uhm," Hermione paused climbing off Draco's lap and walking over to the warmth of the fireplace. "When are you going to ask this beauty to the Ball?"

"Right now I guess." Draco replied simply.

"Oh well don't let me keep you." Hermione smiled slightly and turned to the comforting flames.

"Okay then… Hermione, will you be my date to the Ball?"

* * *

Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team moped around the common room awaiting the start of their afternoon lessons. Most of the Gryffindor house joined them in their misery.

"We've never been defeated by Slytherin that badly before…" A student stated with a sigh.

"Yes. Thank you for pointing that out." Ginny said as she tossed a piece of paper into the fire. Harry watched Ginny silently before turning to Ron.

"You know, I was planning to ask Hermione to the Ball during this celebration of us winning. But it just won't work now…" He said quietly.

"Mate, she's your girlfriend. You don't need to _ask_ her. She just automatically, goes."

"No but I wanted to make it formal. It's our one year anniversary and I want it to be special." Ron looked at Harry and then to Ginny.

"Harry, you can still ask her now. It isn't like she's going to say no, simply because we lost the match." Harry's mouth slowly rose to a smile.

"You're right Ginny. I'll go ask her." Harry jumped up and made for the door.

"Harry wait!" Ginny called. With a flick of her wand she produced a bouquet of tulips and passed them to Harry. He smiled at her gratefully and ran out of the Gryffindor dorms. Ginny watched him run to his fair lady, whilst kicking herself inside and wishing it was her he was running too.

Harry ran the entire way to Hermione's dorm. He skidded to a halt at the portrait and muttered the password. Before entering the passageway into Hermione's common room, he took deep breath. Straightened his Gryffindor red shirt ran a sweaty hand through his hair and entered the passageway.

* * *

"Okay then… Hermione, will you be my date to the Ball?" Hermione spun around and stared at Draco, in complete awe.

"But we - " Draco held up his hand as his head snapped towards the passageway that led to the portrait door.

"Someone is coming…" He whispered. Hermione's eyes widened, as realisation dawned on her, as there was only one other person who knew the password to her dorm. And that person was; **Harry,** stood in the doorway, staring at the sight before him. Hermione standing in front of the fireplace holding a Slytherin scarf and Draco Malfoy sitting smugly on her couch.

Draco and Hermione stared at Harry. He was no longer wearing his Quidditch fatigues and was now dressed in black pants, a suede red shirt with the top 3 buttons undone, and a bunch of tulips in his hand.

"Harry." Hermione said, quickly turning her facial expression from horror to a smile. "Uhm, I'm kind of busy…" She said as she motioned to Draco.

"I can see that." Harry said blankly, eyeing the Slytherin scarf in Hermione's hand.

"Typical Potter. You catch wind of something happening without _the-boy-who-lived_ and you insist on gate crashing." Draco drawled. Harry just sneered at Draco.

"Harry, we're having a Head meeting." Hermione's eyes looked from his face to the bunch of flowers in his hand. "Can we talk later?" She asked whilst placing the Slytherin scarf in her hand, discreetly on the mantle piece. Draco leaned back in the couch and spread his arms across the back of the couch.

"Don't mind me Potter. Tell your mudblood girlfriend what ever it is you need to say." Hermione glared at Draco for calling her a mudblood and then turned her attention back to Harry. "Go up to my bedroom and I'll be with you in a second." Harry nodded and headed up the stairs to Hermione's bedroom.

"Oh by the way Potty. Nice game of Quidditch today. It was my pleasure to finally beat you." Harry just scrunched his fist and continued up to Hermione's room.

Draco leapt to his feet and collected Hermione in his arms and kissed her passionately.

"So is it a yes?" Draco asked smirking down at her. Hermione smiled at this.

"Of course it is." She kissed him quickly. "Now go." Draco took two steps away but immediately came back to kiss Hermione again. She giggled slightly and pushed him towards the door.

"Go." She whispered. And in one smooth move Draco was gone. Hermione took a deep breath, straightened her clothes and headed up to her room where Harry awaited her. She opened the door quietly and shut it as gracefully as she'd opened it. The bunch of flowers lay on her bed and Harry stood over by the large bay window.

"Harry…" Hermione said gently. Harry turned and smiled slightly at her. Knots tightened on Hermione's stomach yet she ran over to Harry into his open arms and hugged him.

"You didn't come to the change rooms after the match." Harry said finally, breaking the silence and the embrace he was in with Hermione. "You didn't even come to the common room."

"I'm sorry Harry. I thought you'd want to be alone."

"Well you thought wrong. Even if you just sat there studying, your presence is comforting." Hermione looked at the floor. Harry stood close to her, their bodies but inches apart. He placed his finger under Hermione's chin and lifted her head so that he could see her face. Hermione looked at Harry, he was scanning her face with his gorgeous emerald eyes.

"You seem so distant. It's like you're never here. Ron and Ginny have noticed it too." Hermione took a step back and looked at Harry with a slight frown forming on her brow.

"What are you suggesting?"

"Nothing. It's just odd."

"What is?"

"That you'd be having a Head meeting immediately after a Quidditch match." Her frown turned to an icy glare.

"I don't know what you're implying Harry but the way it's coming across to me isn't nice. We had the meeting planned a long time before the Quidditch match was scheduled." Harry huffed slightly but covered it by walking over to the bed and picking up the bunch of flowers.

"These are for you." He said as he placed them into a vase on her dressing table. A tear of sadness and hate trickled down Hermione's cheek but she wiped it away before Harry saw it.

"I uhm," Harry paused, sensing the tension between them. "I came to see if you'd come to the Ball with me."

"You know that I'd come to the Ball with you Harry."

"I just want it to be special, being our one year anniversary and all." Hermione nodded.

"I understand… But what you need to understand is that I may be spending a majority of the night with Malfoy. Since it is the Head Girl and Boy who're organising this Ball." Harry nodded.

"I'll see you at dinner." And with that, Harry left Hermione's dorm room. She stood by the bay window and waited until she heard the click of the portrait closing behind Harry as he left. Once she heard it she threw herself onto her bed and cried herself to sleep. Thoughts and dreams of sadness, betrayal, lies, pretending and defeat filled her sleep; imitating the nightmare she was living. A nightmare she was unable to escape from, even in her sleep.

* * *

_**Master,**_

_**I have been following your orders precisely. I have been keeping an eye on Potter and his friends yet not current 'weakness' has shown itself. I shall give you a more detailed follow up in coming weeks. Until then i remain your faithful servant;**_

_**D. Malfoy.**_

Voldemort looked up from the letter in his hand and then to the burnt remains of the letter Pansy had sent only a few days earlier. He then turned his gaze to Lucius who was sitting at his desk feverently organising finances. Slowly, realising he was being watched Lucius lifted his head to look at the Dark Lord.

"Master?" With that, Voldemort's eyes narrowed into an icy glare.

"I'm beginning to doubt your sons," He paused slightly. "...Loyalty; to our cause." Lucius bit back on his rising agression and spoke as calmly as possible.

"What - What makes you think that Master?"

"Just a letter I have received from Master Malfoy concerning his mission." Voldemort tossed the letter over to Lucius who scanned its contents.

"Master. He is a young boy. A foolishly stupid young boy. He's at that age where girls are the priority. Believe me, he shall be severely punished upon returning home." Voldemort shook his head.

"No need. I have something else in store for him when he returns. However, we shall continue with our plans concerning the information fed to us by Miss Parkinson. Only, sooner."

"How soon my Lord? I will need to round up the Death Eaters."

"A week."

"A week Master?" Lucius looked at Voldemort in disbelief.

"A week from today. I trust you will be ready..."

"Yes Master."

"Good. Don't fail me Lucius. I have some business in the North. I shall be back when I am back." Voldemort stood, donned a large black, hooded cloak and apparated from the Malfoy Manor.

* * *

**AN:** I'm so sorry this has taken me so long. About a month ago I decided to abandon the story due to lack of motivation and interest. But lately I thought that the least I could do is at least finish the story for the faithful readers and reviewers who so often come back to read my story. Thank you so much for your support, critisizm (good and bad) and most of all your encouragement. I will try my hardest to keep regular updates coming to you and I hope the story turns out the way in which you hoped. Although it may be a little rushed, with numerous spelling and grammer mistakes. Hope you like this chapter and the BIG one in which follows. --Peta 


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**The Price of a World**

**Chapter Sixteen**

* * *

A week went by, a week in which Hermione hardly saw her friends. She was so preoccupied with arranging Prefect meetings for the Ball and keeping up with her NEWT studies. Her only form of solace was Draco's presence every night for a few hours after dinner. But at length, the day came; the day of the Hogwarts Ball. The school was in a tumult of ecstasy, girls were gossiping about their dates, their dresses and worrying over how they were going to get ready in the 4 hours they were allotted instead of afternoon classes. The boys on the other hand were boasting about their 'gorgeous' dates and how good they were going to look in their formal muggle attire.

The morning sunshine filtered through the stained glass window above Hermione's desk, splashing the colours of the rainbow on the pallor of her tired face. She blinked slowly, awaiting her proper vision to break through the blur in which she now saw. She rubbed her sore eyes, stretched her over worked muscles and massaged her temples where a headache had been nagging for the last week. Upon opening her eyes and taking in the familiar surroundings of her room, she noticed something in which; wasn't familiar. Sitting on her desk was a silver platter. On which sat the most grandiose breakfast she had ever seen in her life. She leapt out of bed and put on her white lace, wrap around dressing gown. Her feet padded softly on the floor as she went over to the feast in which was all hers. She sat on the desk chair and smiled to herself.

"Trust Draco to go to all of this..." She thought. But it wasn't until she saw the single tulip flower lying on the desk next to the platter that she realised that it wasn't Draco who had made this breakfast for her. A small card was tied to the tulip with a red ribbon. She picked up the card and read it.

'Happy Anniversary Hermione. All my love, Harry.'

She sat for a moment thinking what to do. It was their anniversary. And she had to make it special for Harry. It was going to be so hard to say and do things for their one-year anniversary; when she was in love with some one else. She admired the feast and, not wanting it to go to waste; started to eat it.

Being Head Boy and Head Girl, Hermione and Draco were excused from classes altogether so as to prepare the Great Hall for the Ball that evening. They were joined along with 2 prefects from each house in the year below them. Ginny was one of the Gryffindor Prefects.

Hermione showered and dressed as quickly as possible for she wanted to see Harry before he went to class. She dressed herself in a pair of jeans and a brown tank top, not wanting to wear anything nice since she'd be doing physical work. She flew down the corridors as fast and her feet would allow. But rounding the corner into the main staircase she ran head-on into, no other but Draco Malfoy. The collision stopped her dead in her tracks but it was also unexpected and she toppled backwards landing hard onto the stone floor. Draco sneered down at her.

"Watch where you're going mudblood. Although I could get used to seeing you at my feet." Hermione opened her mouth to enquire of the sudden change in Draco when a familiar voice rang out behind her.

"Get away from her Malfoy." Before she knew it, a firm grip had her under each arm and lifted her to her feet. It was Harry and Ron, on their way to Potions. Hermione then knew why Draco had resorted to his old self. Harry and Ron had been approaching.

"Don't worry Weasel. I was just leaving." Draco pushed past the two Gryffindor boys and stalked down the corridor towards his dorm. Hermione spun around and threw her arms around Harry's neck and hugged him tightly.

"The breakfast was absolutely beautiful." Hermione murmured against Harry's lips as she kissed him feverently.

"Glad you liked it." He said smiling as he put his arm around her. The trio began walking to the dungeons.

"So are you going to give us some inside goss about the Ball?" Ron teased.

"You know I wouldn't Ron." Hermione replied nonchalantly whilst a smirk played on her lips.

"Oh really? So you wouldn't give in to torture?" Harry said whilst poking Hermione's stomach gently. She squirmed slightly being highly ticklish.

"No, I wouldn't give in to torture." She said grinning profoundly and trying her hardest to dodge Harry's poking. Ron laughed heartily before joining in Harry's form of "torture" by tickling Hermione. She immediately let out a scream of laughter and giggles whilst her two oldest friends tickled her. By now they were in the corridor leading to Snape's potions classroom.

"OKAY! Okay, okay." She yelled between giggles. "I'll tell you one thing." Hermione stood in her tiptoes to whisper into Harry's ear. Harry's eyes widened and then his lips drew into a cheeky grin. Hermione gave Harry a quick kiss on the lips before running back towards the Great Hall.

"See you this evening Harry! Bye Ron!" She called back before disappearing around the corner. Ron just watched, completely baffled.

"What… just happened? What did she tell you?" Ron pestered. The grin was wiped from Harry's face and his cheeks immediately flushed a deep red.

"Oh. Uh. Nothing of importance."

"Harry!" Ron whined. But right at that moment the door to Snape's room slammed open and the class had begun.

* * *

Hermione walked up to the giant doors in which lead to the Great Hall. The prefects must've already started preparing the hall for the door was wardened off with enchanted barricades. They had even placed a sign on the door: "Hall Closed in preparation for the Grand Ball."

Hermione heaved the door to the hall open and slipped inside. The Ravenclaw prefects were decorating the dining tables at the far end of the hall whilst the Hufflepuff prefects were starting to decorate the walls and entrance. The Gryffindor prefects were setting up the stage and sound equipment but the Slytherin Prefects were nowhere to be seen. Either, Hermione noted; was Draco. She went over to Ginny who was taping the electric cords to the group so as no one would trip over them.

"Where are the Slytherin prefects?" Hermione asked, a slight frown forming between her eyebrows. Ginny stood up from her task on the floor and brushed the hair from her eyes.

"They never showed up. Malfoy waited for them for a while but then he took off aswell." Hermione sighed.

"Oh well. We'll just have to do without them at this stage. Have you heard from the bands yet?" Ginny shook her head slightly.

"You'd have to ask Jas, over there. He was in charge of the music gigs."

"The Hufflepuff Prefect?" Hermione checked.

"Yep." Hermione smiled and nodded to Ginny before going to enquire about the music acts for the night.

"Jas?" A dark haired Hufflepuff 6th year looked up from what he was doing.

"Yeah?"  
"Heard anything about the bands coming tonight?"

"Yeah, _The Streets_ will be here as scheduled for 6pm."

"And the complication is..?"

"Well you see." The boy paused. "_The Libertines_ won't be here until 9pm." Hermione's brain was working over time but she kept her cool and thought out the problem.

"Well. We can have _The Streets_ on first at 6pm. Dinner and then _The Libertines_ as soon as they arrive." Jas smiled and nodded, appreciative of Hermione's judgement. "Go change it on the schedule so the other Prefects know what's happening." The 6th year did as he was told and Hermione continued around the hall helping the Prefects complete their chosen tasks. Suddenly the doors burst open and Draco stormed into the Great Hall, slamming the doors shut behind him as loudly as they'd opened. Hermione watched as he stormed halfway into the room, his cheeks flushed with anger. He slowed down and stopped just near the dancefloor and looked up. Draco looked straight at Hermione, her large brown eyes large with wonder and concern. Her presence soothed him; he took a deep breath to calm himself down. Before he knew it Hermione was by his side.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Hermione asked, turning her back on the other Prefects and shielding Draco from their curious stares.

"Those two bloody Slytherin Prefects. That's what's wrong." Hermione turned to face the other Prefects in the room.

"Go back to your duties. We have 2 hours to have this hall ready. And if it isn't done you'll be staying back into your afternoon preparation time." In an instant all of the Prefects went back to what they were doing.

"Come." Hermione led Draco out of the Great Hall and into the Hogwarts Grounds. She followed the walls of the castle around to the left until she stopped at a sandstone bench amongst the flowerbeds. She sat down, and Draco sat beside her. Taking Draco's hands in hers she started kissing them gently.

"What about the Prefects? What is it that they have caused you to be so upset?"

"I'm not upset. I just hate Pureblood superiority. You know those Prefects complained to their parents about being bossed around by a –"

"A mudblood…" Hermione murmured. "So they aren't helping because I am the Head Girl?"

"Pretty much."

"And not even having you as the Head Boy meant anything?"

"It did. But I refused to agree to their terms. But, don't worry about it anymore. You're here with me and that's all that matters." Draco clasped one of his hands with Hermione's and with his other hand he touched her cheek softly. He traced his finger down her cheekbone and jawbone, down her neck and then slowly ran his hand down her arm. Goosebumps exploded over Hermione's skin. She could see Draco's eyes scanning her body, taking every bit of it in hungrily. Draco then placed both of his hands on Hermione's hips, pulling her closer to his body. Eager for the bodily contact Hermione climbed over to Draco, straddling him with one knee on either side of him. Draco's hands ran from Hermione's hips down to her bottom. The touch of Draco's warm hands through Hermione's tight denim jeans was driving her body crazy. It was amazing how the unpredictability of having someone run their hands across your body made your skin crawl with delight. Hermione leant forward and started planting gentle kisses on Draco's neck, occasionally nipping the skin gently with her teeth; making his hips jolt and grind against her own. His hands continued to explore, they ran up and down her thighs, his thumbs tracing the inside of her thighs and sending jolts of pleasure all the way up to the place where the crotch in her jeans met the thin cotton of her underwear.

"I want you so badly Hermione." Draco murmured from the place where his head was nestled in-between Hermione's breasts. Hermione kissed the top of Draco's head, his fingers tracing slow circles across the denim on her bottom.

"You have no idea how much I want you too. But Harry - "

"Yes. I know." Draco leaned back and admired Hermione's figure. "We should get back to the hall. We have less then two hours before we have to start getting ready." Hermione kissed Draco's soft lips gingerly before hopping off his lap. He then stood, fixed his robes and walked back to the Hall whilst holding Hermione's hand.

* * *

"Report."

"Master, the Death Eaters are gathered and prepared. I have given them the portkey in which will activate at 21:00 hours. I shall accompany you to the destination along with 2 of your best Death Eaters."

"Their names?"

"Crabbe and Goyle, Master."

"Very well. Carry on with what you were doing. I however, wish to look my best when meeting my old friend… Mr Potter."

* * *

It was midday; Hermione was pressed for time, and short-handed by two people. Draco was helping carry the heavy equipment and connect all the wiring system together. Hermione was busy helping the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw prefects to finish decorating the room since the tables at the far end of the hall were already set and decorated. Time passed quickly but the hall looked _great_. Hermione, Draco and the prefects stood back admiring their work once they were done. They had done pretty well. Their hands were red and sore, they had grey dust and dirt covering the knee patches on their jeans and their hands were equally as dirty. The girls' hair was messed up and the boys wiped their foreheads with their robe sleeves. Everyone's cheeks were flushed from the exertion.

"Okay everyone. _Very_ well done. I'm awarding you each 10 points for your house for your efforts. And we've even finished half an hour earlier then expected." Hermione beamed with pride at the group of Prefects before her.

"You're all dismissed." Draco said with a sigh as he collapsed into a chair. The Prefects bustled out and off to their dorms to get a head start on getting ready for the Ball. Hermione smiled and laughed half-heartedly at Draco whilst walking over and massaging his shoulders gently.

"So uh. How long _does_ it take you to get ready for a ball?" Hermione smiled and leaned forward from behind Draco and kissed his neck.

"Definitely not 4 hours. 3 Maybe." She said trying her hardest not to laugh. Draco jumped up and lifted Hermione in his arms.

"Well we'd better hurry. I've got you all to myself for an hour and a half." Draco said biting gently on Hermione's earlobe. Hermione giggled and clung to Draco as he raced off to his dorm room with Hermione in his arms. Upon reaching the Private Head Boy dorm room Draco lay Hermione onto his couch and he climbed on top of her. Hermione's chest heaved up and down, trying to catch her breath from laughing all the way from the Great Hall. Slowly Draco lifted Hermione's tank top over her head and started planting soft kisses down the valley between her breasts. Whilst Draco was preoccupied Hermione undid the buttons to Draco's shirt with deft fingers. They then spent the next hour and 20 minutes fondling, kissing and teasing each other whilst making good use of chocolate syrup and whipped cream.

* * *

Hermione raced into her bedroom, it was 3:45pm. She had an hour and 15 minutes to get ready.

"This is _so_ unfair." She complained as she rushed into the shower. She ended up resorting to using magic to help dry and do her hair all the while she was thinking of how she was going to spend the night with Draco and how she was going to act the perfect girlfriend to Harry, in front of Draco.

* * *

Draco stood under the warm running water of his shower thinking about Hermione and how he was going to get through tonight whilst acting as though he hated her. Draco, being the cunning Slytherin that he is. Came up with a plan.

* * *

Harry was adjusting his suit jacket in front of the mirror whilst Ron was trying to tame his hair with some hair gel. Harry was determined to make this the best night Hermione ever had. He was eager to see her since she forbade him to see her outfit for the evening. There was also another whom he wished to see in her gown this evening but pushed that thought to the back of his mind convincing himself that the thought meant nothing.

* * *

**AN: Okay so maybe this chapter isn't the "BIG" chapter that i promised. I had to break it into two chapters, otherwise it'd be one massive long chapter and you'd get bored by the time you read the second word of the first paragraph. I'll post Chapter 17 tomorrow morning. And since it's school holidays and it's pissing down with rain, i'll post a new chapter every day. --Peta**


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**The Price of a World**

**Chapter Seventeen

* * *

**

Harry was adjusting his suit jacket in front of the mirror whilst Ron was trying to tame his hair with some hair gel. Harry was determined to make this the best night Hermione ever had. He was eager to see her since she forbade him to see her outfit for the evening. There was also another whom he wished to see in her gown this evening but pushed that thought to the back of his mind convincing himself that the thought meant nothing.

* * *

It was 5:15pm and the Ball had officially started 15 minutes ago. Harry and Ron walked into the Great Hall and immediately their eyes went wide.

"Woah." Harry breathed. The interior of the Great Hall had been shifted completely. When entering through the large oak doors, you were at the top of a large marble staircase. A man dressed as a butler then announced your arrival to the entire party by calling out your name as you made your way down the staircase.

"INTRODUCING MISTER HARRY POTTER AND MISTER RONALD WEASLEY." The butler called as Harry and Ron passed him and made their way into the body of the hall. At the bottom of the stairs, to both their right and left was Victorian style divans placed in groups of two and three. Before them lay a royal blue carpet leading into the center of the room, it then ended in a circular shape allowing you access to the rest of the room. From there; to the left was a large stage, a stack of amplifiers forming the front of the stage, a DJ station and a large wooden dance floor. In front of them and to the right of them were masses upon masses of circular tables. All in which were donned with royal blue table clothes. There were 10 placings at each table along with name settings, silver cutlery and crystal glasses. The teachers had their usual long table along the back of the hall; all of the teachers were already seated at their table. The walls were decorated with royal blue and white balloons and long, ruffled sashes of blue silk in which were pinned and then a foot hung in a 'U' shape, pinned again and then another 'U' shape.

"Wow, Hermione sure did go to a lot of trouble to make this a good Ball." Harry nodded in agreement. He was already scanning the room for Hermione. She should've been here already. He checked his pocket for the neatly wrapped gift in which he'd bought Hermione.

"Harry! Ron!" They turned around to see Ginny rushing towards them. Harry's eyes widened. Ginny had her long fiery red curls draped around her shoulders with a large red exotic flower behind her ear. Her dress however was a mix of exotic, Latino and Salsa. It was vibrant red with three black under layers in which were seen by about 3 inches. The dress had a corset torso edged in black lace. Instead of going over her shoulders the sleeves were large red ruffles in which hung off her shoulders. On her dainty feet were black high heel buckled shoes, perfect for salsa dancing.

"Ginny. You look amazing." Harry said, completely stoked. Ron stared at his younger sister. She smiled up at her elder brother whose opinion she regarded highly.

"What do you think Ron?"

"You aren't my innocent little kid of a sister anymore." Ginny looked at him as if her heart were about to break.

"You've grown into a beautiful young lady so quickly I've only just noticed. You look absolutely beautiful Gin." Ron said smiling warming at his youngest sibling. Ginny perked up immediately, tears forming in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around her brother.

"Thank you Ron." Ginny smiled as someone behindher cleared their throat. They all looked to see who it was. It was Dean Thomas.

"May I steal this beauty away from you two?" He asked Harry and Ron.

"YOU ASKED MY SISTER TO THE BALL!?" Ron exploded. "You're in my year for heavens sake! I've known you for 7 years! And you're hitting on my little sister?" Harry and Ginny burst into giggles.

"It's okay Ron. I'm a young lady now. I can look after myself." She took the arm of Dean and he swept her off to their own group of friends. Harry and Ron were soon joined by Neville, Seamus, Luna and Lavender.

* * *

Draco stood amongst a group of Slytherins. He was dressed in a black suit with a navy blue satin shirt with a matching handkerchief triangle sticking out the top of his breast pocket. His hair hung loosely around his face with a small amount of gel to keep it set and to stop 'fly aways'. He looked at his watch, 5:27pm. And still no sign of Hermione. A majority of the school was already in the hall and Draco was starting to get nervous. Maybe Hermione had already come in with Potter and he hadn't noticed. He decided to go looking for Potter and make up some excuse as to why he had to steal Hermione away. He excused himself from his friends, Pansy tried to follow him but he told her that it Head business and regretfully stayed behind. Draco pushed his way through the crowd looking for Harry. He finally found him amongst a group of Gryffindors. Draco rolled his eyes and sighed before strutting straight up to Harry.

"Potter." Harry spun around, preparing his fists. "Put them away Potter. I just want to know where Hermi - Granger is." Draco corrected himself quickly, hoping they didn't notice. It was Ron's turn. He pushed in front of Harry to face Draco.

"What business is it - "

"INTRODUCING MISS HERMIONE GRANGER." The butler called out from the top of the stairs. Harry, Ron, Draco, Luna, Neville and Seamus all turned towards the stairs. Along with the rest of the school.

There standing elegantly at the top of the stairs was Hermione. She was beaming with happiness and pride. Harry, Ron and Draco stood open mouthed and wide-eyed at Hermione. She looked absolutely stunning. Her curls were in tight ringlets, most of which were pinned up in a loose bun at the back of her head whilst the rest hung loosely around her shoulders and face. A rose-gold headdress adorned with small amber gems was placed neatly on her head with her curls entwined over the back half, making the headdress look more like a tiara. The dress she wore hugged her body emphasising her womanly figure and bronze complexion. The dress itself was spectacular. It was a sunflower yellow with a golden glitter run through the satin fabric. It was a halter neck cut with a low cleavage, ending halfway to her bellybutton but with a rose-gold clasp just under the bosom; preventing the dress from being too revealing. Directly under the bodice, starting about 30 centimetres below the crotch was a split, which continued all the way to the floor allowing Hermione to walk with ease. Around the bodice however, was a thick sash of the same type material as the dress. It wrapped flush around Hermione's waist and tied into a magnificent bow at her lower back. The dress flowed all the way to the floor and due to the split at the front of the dress, the dress trailed along behind Hermione for about 2 feet.

Hermione took each step one at a time, making her way slowly yet gracefully down the stairs. She suddenly became very nervous as she noticed all most everyone in the hall was staring at her. However she continued to radiate with confidence and joy as she made her way to the bottom of the stairs.

* * *

"Oh. My. God. Harry." Ron managed to mutter. Harry quickly snapped out of his trance and remembered his manners. He raced to the front of the hall and awaited Hermione at the bottom of the stairs. Draco stood and watched the beauty float down the stairs. 'Dear god, I've died and gone to heaven.' Draco mumbled to himself.

* * *

Hermione arrived at the bottom of the stairs to be greeted by Harry. He looked gorgeous standing there in his charcoal suit and champagne yellow shirt to match Hermione's dress. He held out his arm to her in which she gratefully took.

"Oh Harry I felt as if I were about to fall flat on my face, walking down those stairs." Harry chuckled with Hermione.

"Well you didn't show it. You look so incredibly beautiful Hermione. That dress is so strikingly gorgeous on you." Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"Thank you Harry. You brush up pretty well yourself actually." Hermione kissed Harry on the cheek as he led her back over to Ron and the others. By the time Harry returned Draco had gone, so he didn't find it necessary that he tell Hermione that Draco was looking for her.

"Hermione, if, if Harry wasn't dating you; then, by gosh. Well uh, you know. I'd ask you out any day." Neville stuttered. Hermione giggled and kissed Neville on the cheek.

"I appreciate the compliment Neville."

"HERMIONE!" Ginny rushed over and engulfed Hermione in a hug. "You look so beautiful. I'm so envious. Everyone is talking about how good you look." Hermione blushed instantly but turned into Harry's chest to hide it. Harry sniggered and wrapped his arms around Hermione.

"Miss Granger." Hermione turned around to face the person that addressed her.

"Headmaster." She smiled up at Albus Dumbledore.

"I dare say, you and Mister Malfoy have done an excellent job on this Ball. I am eager to see what other delights you have in store for us this evening."

"Why thank you Headmaster. I recommend you taste all of the desserts we've got for you later. They're to die for."

"Desserts…" Neville said, licking his lips. Dumbledore smiled and left the 7th years to socialise. Hermione was about to begin her rounds by talking to people from different years to find out what they thought of the Ball so far when she realised that she hadn't seen Draco since she arrived. She decided to make her way over to a group of Slytherin 7th years.

"Excuse me?" Hermione addressed a turned back. The girl turned around to reveal Pansy Parkinson.

"Yes, Mudblood?" Hermione bit her tongue as to not retaliate.

"Do you know where Dra – Malfoy would be?" Hermione corrected herself quickly, not wanting to be bait to a group of Slytherins.

"What's it to you?" Pansy sneered back. Hermione heard an outburst of laughter from the middle of the group and then a few people parting to make way for someone approaching them.

"And who're you picking on this early in the evening Pansy?" The voice said once finishing laughing with the rest of the group. The person belonging to the voice pushed their way to the edge of the group to stand next to Pansy.

"The mudblood. She's looking for you." The giant grinwas wiped off Draco's face as he turned from looking at Pansy to Hermione; standing before him looking absolutely stunning. Hermione's gaze immediately diverted to the floor and she waited for Draco to make the first move.

"Okay Pansy. She's found me. You can go now."

With a huff Pansy turned on her heel and stormed into the group of Slytherins. Draco held out his arm to Hermione, who took it without a word and followed Draco's lead around the Hall.

"You're not going to comment on how beautiful, or radiant, or stunning I look tonight?" Hermione asked, breaking the silence.

"No. I'm not."

"Why not?" Hermione asked, intrigued. "Everyone else has commented and praised my appearance tonight."

"Because I think you're beautiful," Draco kissed the top of Hermione's head. "Radiant," He kissed her hand. "And stunning; all the time." He kissed her gently on the lips. Hermione blushed profoundly and suddenly looked about her hoping no one saw Draco's actions. "You don't need a sexy dress and some make up to make you look utterly gorgeous. That just comes naturally to you." Hermione beamed up at Draco.

"You have no idea how much I want to snog the living day lights out of you right now." Hermione giggled. Draco smirked and raised and eyebrow.

"What's stopping you?" He teased. She poked him playfully in the chest and they continued to walk towards the anteroom off the stage where _The Streets_ were currently getting ready to perform.

* * *

The rest of the evening ran pretty smoothly. Draco and Hermione announced the beginning of the first performance for the evening and the entire crowd loved _The Streets_' concert. They then requested that everyone take their places so that the feast may begin. Hermione and Draco were then parted as they went to their separate tables. The meal ran with out any difficulty, as did the dessert. Having no DJ, Hermione enchanted the DJ station to play the songs automatically and at random. Everyone was making good use of the dance floor, even the Professors. Hermione was dancing with Harry when Draco came up and tapped Harry on the shoulder.

"May I steal her from you?" Harry glared at Draco and prepared to retort when Hermione placed a cool hand on Harry's forearm.

"It's okay." She whispered, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Harry back off and went to join Ron at the table with a drink. Draco placed one hand on Hermione's waist and with the other; he took Hermione's hand. Hermione placed her spare hand on Draco's shoulder and they danced in slow circles.

"And what have I done to deserve the honour of dancing with you Mister Malfoy?" Hermione mocked in an attempt at a serious tone, which failed due to her laughing.

"I'd like to think of it as what you're going to have to do; to thank me for giving you this honour." Hermione scoffed and lay her head on Draco's shoulder.

"I could stay like this all night." Hermione murmured.

"So could - " A sudden **BANG **echoed through out the hall. All power was cut. An icy wind blew and all the candles were snubbed simultaneously. Complete darkness. The Professors however were on their feet in an instant.

"Don't even flick a wand." A rasping voice rung out through the Hall. Hermione's eyes blinked like mad, trying to bring the darkness into focus. Trying to see more then 5 centimetres in front of her.

"Don't think I can't see you Severus Snape. _Expelliarmus_." The rasping voice echoed once more and the distant sound of a wand colliding with the stone floor was heard.

"Death Eaters. Surround the student body and remove all wands from the Professors." This was a different voice, more of a drawl really. However; this new voice was slightly familiar to Hermione. Draco pulled her close to his body and bent down to her height.

"Promise me you'll stay out of sight." He whispered.

"Why? Where are you going? Please don't leave me."

"Promise me." With that Draco was gone. Hermione reached out in front of her but there was no one. She was standing alone now, surrounded by darkness.

* * *

As soon as the lights went out Harry's scar began to burn. He clutched his forehead as the pain began to overwhelm him.

"Harry? Harry what is it?" Ron whispered. Ron looked up as he heard a wand fall to the stone floor. Harry managed to speak through clenched teeth.

"Voldemort is here." Ron's eyes widened.

"Here? In Hogwarts? In this very room?" Ron whimpered. An evil cackle echoed sinisterly throughout the hall.

"Very good Mister Potter, very good." The rasping voice sounded nearer now. Harry stood and stared steadfast in front of him. "So we meet again." A red light shot out from a wand only 10 metres in front of Harry. And there, bathed in the light from his own '_Lumos_' spell was Lord Voldemort.

* * *

**AN: OoOoOoOoH! Voldie has returned! I had lots of fun writing this chapter. Especially with describing Hermione's dress. Oh and Ginny's. If you're all nice i'll scan the sketches I did of the dresses and put a link to them up here. I'm halfway through the next chapter but i can't guarantee that it'll be up today. If it isn't up today then it'll be up at the latest, thursday. Please review and tell me what you think. -- Peta**


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**The Price of a World**

**Chapter Eighteen

* * *

**

Harry managed to speak through clenched teeth.

"Voldemort is here." Ron's eyes widened.

"Here? In Hogwarts? In this very room?" Ron whimpered. An evil cackle echoed sinisterly throughout the hall.

"Very good Mister Potter, very good." The rasping voice sounded nearer now. Harry stood and stared steadfast in front of him. "So we meet again." A red light shot out from a wand only 10 metres in front of Harry. And there, bathed in the light from his own '_Lumos_' spell was Lord Voldemort.

"What is your business here?" Harry demanded subtly slipping his wand out from his inside jacket pocket. Voldemort chuckled.

"Do you seriously think I'd be stupid enough to make my entire plan on how to kill you, public?" Voldemort spat.

"I was hoping. You have been alive for, how many years? Your brain should've started rotting away by now." Harry smirked at the Dark Lord. Voldemort considered Harry for a moment.

"You have changed since our last encounter." Voldemort paused for a while, thinking something over. "You have indeed, gained a lot more power and knowledge. Confidence and arrogance is definitely a lot more present. However; there is something… else." Harry watched Voldemort closely.

"Something… personal perhaps?" Harry began to grind his teeth.

* * *

Although surrounded by darkness, everyone else in the hall could see the faint light from Voldemort's wand and could clearly hear their conversation. A movement off to the right caught Hermione's eye. It was the Death Eaters; they were forming a large circle around the students who were now being ushered onto the dance floor area.

"_Something… personal perhaps?"_ Hermione's head snapped towards where Harry and Voldemort stood. Hermione caught Harry's eye and she stared back at him, utterly frightened. Harry shook his head and glared back at Voldemort.

"I have a pet owl. That's personal. Are you going to hold her ransom?" Voldemort hissed, frustrated by Harry's narky attitude.

"Let's stop toying with each other now, shall we?"

"As you wish. Lets get down to business." Harry drew his wand. A murmur, a muffled cry and a few screams erupted from the student body. The Professors now among them tried to subdue them.

"Tom Riddle." Voldemort spun to watch Dumbledore walk slowly over to stand beside Harry. "Voldemort, which you have now labelled yourself. Must you and your Death Eaters interrupt my school?" Voldemort sneered.

"Albus Dumbledore, still alive I see. Tell me, did they even consider chucking you in Azkaban for letting me escape those two years ago?" Dumbledore simply adjusted his half-moon spectacles on his nose.

"I thought we were through with toying around?" Harry interrupted. Voldemort turned his attention back to the young Potter.

"I have come to challenge you to a duel."

"A duel…" Harry thought for a moment. "And what are your conditions?"

"It will not be a duel to the death. But merely, testing unstable ground."

"You want to suss out how powerful I really am before fighting for the death? How valiant of you."

"I do not wish to waste any more of my time listening to your pathetic insults, Harry Potter."

"And what happens to the loser at the end of this trial?"

"Both shall walk away. A truce being called once one surrenders." Voldemort reached into his robes, Harry watched Voldemort's every move.

"Wait one second. I want to state my conditions. This is a two way street."

"Very well."

"You will leave Hogwarts, my friends, fellow students and Professors out of this. They're not to be harmed in anyway. This fight is between you, and me. No one else." Voldemort seemed to consider this. He clicked his fingers and a Death Eater was by his side. They had a quick, whispered conversation and then the Death Eater went back to his post.

"Okay then. My Death Eaters shall be leaving shortly. Not even a fly in this room will be harmed." Harry nodded. Voldemort then continued to remove something from his robes. He drew a ceramic tile from his pocket. Voldemort placed it on the floor and slid it across to Harry. "This is a portkey. It will activate at noon in 3 days…"

"Where does it go?"

"That, I cannot tell you. For even I do not know." Not believing a word that passed Voldemort's lips Harry nodded in agreement.

"Very well then." Voldemort turned to his Death Eaters. "Move out." With one combined _bang_ all the Death Eaters and Voldemort disappeared. With a wave ofDumbledore's hand all the candles lit back up, illuminating the room. The students were huddled together in frightened and crying bunches. The only people standing were Harry, Dumbledore, Hermione and a group of Slytherins at the back of the dance floor. Ron was huddled in a ball under the table in which Harry and he were seated at. Hermione ran over to Harry, wrapped her arms around him and burst into tears.

Dumbledore waved his hand once more and the Great Hall returned to its normal layout but instead of the four house tables there were sleeping bags.

"Students. You will be spending the night in here. Professors," Dumbledore looked around checking that everyone was okay. "Professors stand guard. I have some business to attend to." Dumbledore hurried over to the fireplace, threw down some floo powder and disappeared.

* * *

Harry gripped the distressed Hermione as tightly as possible. Her sobs were now uncontrollable.

"Harry. I was so frightened."

"It's okay. I'm here now. You're safe… Come on. We'll go back to your dorm and get you your pyjamas." From the far side of the hall Draco's heart bled. He longed to be the one comforting Hermione, he wished he didn't have to leave her alone on the dance floor and go discuss matters with his father and a few other Slytherin parents whom were part of the Death Eater clan. He wanted her to understand that he did it to protect her. But what worried him the most; was that Voldemort now knew about Hermione. He knew, that Hermione brought out a potential weakness in Harry; the boy-who-lived. An emotion that could be manipulated and used against Harry _as_ a weakness. And that emotion was love.

* * *

**AN: Okay so I lie… I've put this chapter up less then an hour after Chapter Seventeen. I was considering making this chapter longer but I've exhausted my burst of inspiration and motivation that I received a few days ago. So now the next chapter definitely won't be until _at least_ Thursday. Heh, sorry all.**

**Oh yeah and Erin; not just the next chapter but the next TWO chapters! Wo0t! Lol, hope you enjoyed reading them and I'm looking forward to another review on what you think. - -Peta**


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**The Price of a World**

**Chapter Nineteen**

* * *

**Authors Note:** Well, I've decided I won't adjust my story to suit the latest changes in HBP. Because then my entire story would need redoing. And I'm liking where it's heading at the moment. So sit back, relax and enjoy this chapter! Tupz xox

* * *

But what worried Draco the most; was that Voldemort now knew about Hermione. He knew, that Hermione brought out a potential weakness in Harry; the boy-who-lived. An emotion that could be manipulated and used against Harry _as_ a weakness. And that emotion was love.

* * *

That night, the entire school slept within the hall. Professors went around comforting scared children. Ministry officials and Auror's were scattered throughout the school and were cowering the grounds a mere hour after Voldemort's departure. Dumbledore had sent out a standard school letter informing the students' parents that their child was safe and in the utmost care from Professors and Ministry workers. Harry, Hermione and Ron were huddled in the far back corner of the hall. Hermione was snuggled into her sleeping bag, lying against Harry's stomach her eyes slowly lowered as she drifted into a deep sleep. Harry sat up against the stonewall with Ron next to him. Ron looked to his best friend.  
"Harry…"

"…Yeah?"  
"You alright?" There was a pause.

"Yeah. Well, I have to be don't I?"

"No, no of course not. You can't be expected to put on a façade. I know, and I'm sure many others know, how much pressure is being put on you."

"Mmm. And yet, they're still prepared to criticise every thing I do… and still expect me to save their sorry asses in the end." Ron looked at Harry. Anguish and torment swirled in his eyes. He knew better then to confront Harry on this matter. Muttering voices caught Ron's attention at the far end of the hall.

"Harry, look who it is!" Harry looked towards the entrance to the hall, and there talking to McGonagall was Lupin, Tonks, Charlie and Moody. Ron shook Hermione slightly to wake her before making his way through sleeping students to see his brother. Harry helped Hermione up before following Ron.

"Tonks!" Hermione ran and hugged the Auror.

"Hermione, my dear!" She turned to the two boys. "Ron, Harry." She gave each of them a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Harry, we need to talk." Harry looked to Lupin and nodded. Moody led the way and Hermione watched as Harry left with Lupin, Moody and McGonagall.

"Ron, are you okay? Where's Ginny? Was she hurt?" Charlie checked his youngest brother making sure each limb was intact.

"Ugh," Ron grunted and brushed his brother off him. "Stop it. I'm fine. Ginny's over there," he pointed to a group of 6th years huddled asleep on the floor. "She's sleeping – Don't disturb her." He added before Charlie could go over and wake her. Tonks turned to Hermione and Ron.

"I may as well tell you now, so Harry doesn't have to repeat it."

"Don't take Harry away from us." Hermione interrupted. Tonks giggled slightly.

"No, he's staying here. And so is Lupin, Moody, Charlie and I." Hermione and Ron stood silent.

"But – the Order - " Ron began.

"The order isn't doing as well as we'd like Ron."

"What do you mean?" Hermione questioned, regaining some of her usual functioning.

"Well we've had a few members back out – preferring not to risk the lives of their families and loved ones." Hermione huffed at this.

"So they'd rather let Voldemort come and torture them?" Hermione folded her arms across her chest. Tonks smirked slightly before continuing.

"As soon as we heard from Dumbledore we apparated here to assist. Dumbledore suggested that we stay here. Charlie and I will be taking a class and Moody and Lupin will have their own tasks to keep them busy."

"Such as?" Ron looked from his brother to Tonks, awaiting an answer.

"They need to put Harry through an intense training course to prepare him…" Charlie answered his brother's question. Hermione stifled a sob in the back of her throat.

"You – you really believe he needs training?" She turned to Tonks. "Tell me the truth, does he have _any_ chance at winning?" Tonks stared at Hermione for a minute. "I don't know. Voldemort is strong; not as strong as he's capable of, but still strong. Then again, we have never really seen Harry's true power. He could surprise us all."

Just then, the doors of the hall opened and Harry, Lupin and Moody returned. Harry looked from Hermione and Ron; it was evident to him that they knew what was going on. He smiled at them reassuringly and he watched as they both let out a nervous sigh.

"I heard you two would be taking a class Tonks, Charlie?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. Care of Magical Creatures…" Charlie said, grinning from ear to ear. Hermione's cheeks flushed a bright red at the thought of Charlie in dragon hide pants and jacket. Harry poked her in the stomach inconspicuously and she grabbed his arm and squeezed it gently.

"What about you Tonks?" Ron enquired.

"Transfiguration for me. Taking over from Professor McGonagall so she can assist Dumbledore." Quietly the door to the hall creaked open and shut, to reveal McGonagall.

"Mr Weasley, Lupin, Moody and Ms Tonks; your rooms are ready." She smiled and left the hall again as quietly as she'd entered.

"Well, we'll let you lot get back to sleep. Harry, you've got a big day ahead of you tomorrow. I want you well rested." Lupin smiled before heading out the door after McGonagall. Moody, Tonks and Charlie left in a silent succession after him.

The Trio weaved their way back to their little corner. Hermione snuggled down into her sleeping bag, placing herself between Ron and Harry. As soon as Hermione's head touched the pillow she was asleep. Harry could tell Ron was asleep by his heavy breathing and occasional grunting. He leaned over and planted a kiss on Hermione's forehead, and with a quietly whispered 'Night' he lay next to Hermione and drifted to sleep.

A pair of blue-grey eyes on the far side of the hall was watching the trios every movement – especially the brunette beauty.

* * *

**3 Days To Go**:

The next day classes were back to normal. Moody and Lupin escorted Harry to the east wing of Hogwarts and into an empty classroom. This classroom was where Harry was to spend 14 hours a day for 3 days; training with Lupin and Moody.

Early in the morning students were allowed to go back to their dorms before breakfast. It was now lunchtime; Hermione and Ron hadn't seen Harry since breakfast. Charlie and Tonks came to sit next to Hermione and Ron at the Gryffindor table for lunch.

"Charlie, do you know where Harry is?" Charlie looked up at Hermione from his overly crowded plate of food.

"He won't be attending meals with the rest of the school. Those three are in luxury up there. They get anything they want; Dobby is taking care of them." He said with a half full mouth of Shepard's Pie. Hermione sighed and played with the food on her plate. She hadn't seen Draco since he left her on the dance floor the previous night and frankly she didn't want to see him in her present state of mind. Ron finished his glass of pumpkin juice and looked to Hermione.

"If you are just going to keep on playing with your food we may as well start walking to class." Hermione smiled, said a quiet goodbye to Charlie and Tonks and left with Ron.

* * *

Draco looked up from the Slytherin table to see Hermione leaving the Great Hall with Ron. He longed to comfort her and to receive her comfort, he longed to be able to touch her and kiss her without worrying who'd see. He longed to walk with her to class, to be part of her life – he didn't like hiding it anymore. He needed to protect her and by keeping what they had, a secret; would no longer work. Voldemort knew that Harry and Hermione were an item and it would only be a matter of time before he acted on it. Draco got up from the table but Pansy shot out her hand and grabbed Draco's wrist.

"Where are you going darling?" She asked, batting her eyelashes at him. Draco held back a shudder.

"To class."

"Oh I'll come with you!" Pansy made to get up but Draco pushed her back into her seat.

"I don't want company." And with that he stalked away from the table and pushed his way out of the hall.

He took the stairs at a run, he needed to catch up with Hermione and Ron. They'd be on their way to Defense Against The Dark Arts. He caught up with them when they were heading down the corridor towards their DADA classroom. Draco, being the cunning Slytherin he was, needed to come up with a way to get to Hermione alone. And he had the perfect spell to help him out.

"_Accio DADA textbook,_" Draco whispered and Ron's textbook flew into Draco's hand. Stuffing it into his own bag, he waited around the corner out of sight. He could faintly hear their conversation.

"Have you done the homework Hermione?"

"Of course I have Ron. Have you?"

"Yep, are you proud of me?"

"Oh very." Hermione's voice rung out with a hint of sarcasm and Draco smirked to himself, knowing she'd probably picked up the sarcasm from him. "Well you've done your homework. But did you bring your textbook to class this time?"

"Yes, I'll even prove it to you." There was a slight pause. And Draco waited for it. "It's… it was… I swear i…" Draco muffled a laugh. "I must have left it on my bed. I'll be back in a second Mione." Draco could hear Ron's footsteps coming closer and he watched as Ron came to the end of the corridor and took the path that went in the opposite direction to where Draco was hiding. When Ron was out of sight Draco walked towards the DADA classroom.

Hermione was leaning against the cold stonewall, her bag at her feet and Ron's bag next to her own. She could hear footsteps coming towards her but she didn't bother looking up, knowing it was probably just more students coming early to class. The footsteps came closer and the person stopped standing right in front of her. She ran her eyes from the black polished shoes, up the black pants, up the evergreen suede shirt, to the blue-grey eyes and finally to the platinum blonde hair.

"Draco…"

"You don't seem to pleased to see me?" Draco leaned forward to kiss Hermione on the lips but she turned her head and Draco's lips met the smooth skin of Hermione's cheek.

"Draco you left me there. In the dark. Surrounded by Death Eaters. I was terrified." Draco's heart sunk and he stepped back from her, resorting to leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the corridor. He looked at the floor for a period of time before replying.

"You have to understand; my father was there. The head death eaters were there… I still have a duty to my father, the Dark Lord and all the Death Eaters. I may love you and hate my father – but the duty and loyalty is still there. I'm bound to them…" Hermione looked up and met Draco's eye. Hermione didn't even need to ask, Draco was by her side and wrapping his arms around her. Hermione let out a deep sigh and tightened her embrace on Draco.

"I love you…" Draco whispered in her ear.

"I love you too." Hermione rested her head on Draco's chest and they stayed in each other's embrace for as long as possible.

"Oh, by the way. Give this to Weasley for me" Draco got Ron's textbook out of his bag and gave it to Hermione. With a final smirk and kiss on the cheek, Draco turned around and headed to class himself.

* * *

Harry wasn't at dinner either so Hermione decided to join Ron in the Gryffindor common room. They were in the middle of a game of exploding snap when the clock chimed 9 O'clock and the portrait door swung open to reveal a very exhausted looking Harry. He stumbled over to the couch and collapsed. Hermione got up and ran over to the couch, plonking her bottom on the floor so she was near his head. She leaned over him and planted soft kisses across his face but Harry brushed her away irritably. Hermione, stunned, sat back. Ron frowned at this and went to sit next to Hermione.

"Hey mate. Tired?" Harry opened his eyes slightly and looked at Ron.

"You think? I've never had so much strain put on my body. I feel as if I'm under the Crucio curse."

"How about we get you up to bed. You're going to need your beauty sleep if you're going to go through it all again tomorrow." Hermione said as cheerily as possible. Ron and Hermione leant forward to help Harry up but he shrugged them off.

"I don't need your help. I'm perfectly capable in getting up myself." Harry slowly and stiffly stood up as his friends, horrified, stood back and watched. Harry slowly stumbled over to the stairs and using the walls to support himself, climbed the staircase to his dorm. Once around the corner and out of sight and earshot of his friends, Harry collapsed in exhaustion onto the stairs and cried. Hot tears streamed down his cheeks as he leant his head back against the cool stonewall.

Ron looked over at Hermione whom was more hurt then shocked at Harry's behavior.

"It's been a tough day for him. He's got a lot of pressure on his shoulders."

"I know…" Hermione said almost inaudibly.

"He needs our support Mione…" Hermione nodded her head.

"I think I'll head back to my dorm. See you tomorrow morning at breakfast."

"Night Mione." Ron kissed her cheek and headed up the staircase; by this time Harry had already clambered up the staircase. Ron opened the bedroom door to face Harry's bed with the curtains already drawn. He sighed and made his way to his bed unaware that Harry lay wide away on his back longing for his Godfathers comforting words.

* * *

**2 Days To Go**:

The next day passed much like the previous. Hermione and Ron ate meals without Harry and went to class without him. That night however, Hermione headed straight back to her common room. She wasn't in the mood to wait up for Harry's return to the Gryffindor tower, nor did she want to be treated, as she had been the last night. She trudged down the corridor that led from the portrait and into her private common room. She dumped her tote bag next to the bookcase and was about to head up the stairs to soak herself in a hot bath, when the stonewall next to the fireplace began to move. The secret passage door opened and Draco stepped into her common room.

Hermione smiled and her mood was instantly enlightened at seeing him. He picked her up, spun her around and kissed her passionately.

"I've been wanting to do that all day." Draco whispered as he pulled Hermione onto the couch with him where they spent most of the evening.

* * *

**1 Day To Go**:

A harsh knocking on her bedroom door awoke Hermione. She rolled over and mumbled 'come in' before pulling the blankets over her head.

"Wake up and get up beautiful." Hermione pulled the blankets back off her head and blinked her eyes open.

"W-what?"

"Come on, I've got something for you." He leant over and kissed Hermione on the cheek, forehead and lips.

"Oh only because you asked nicely." Hermione rubbed her eyes and sat up.

"Before I give it to you. I just wanted to say. I'm sorry how I treated you the other day. I shouldn't have pushed you away, it was wrong of me. You and Ron mean everything to me. You're the only family I've got left." Hermione smiled slightly and kissed Harry gently.

"It's okay. I suppose I understand. And Ron does too…" Harry pulled a small box from out of his robe pocket.

"This – is for you." Hermione's eyes opened in surprise. The little box was a silver shade and it was tied with a royal blue ribbon. "Go on. Open it." Harry sat next to Hermione on her bed. Gingerly, Hermione pulled an end of the ribbon causing the bow to untie and the ribbon to unravel from its hold on the box. Slowly, she pulled the silver top off the box. Inside, held neatly in place was a silver bracelet. In the center of the bracelet was the most beautiful stone Hermione had ever seen. The stone was linked with the bracelet by a silver bracket. The stone in itself was amazing. It was completely black but when you looked closer, veined with an electric purple. It was mesmerizing.

"Harry – it's…" Hermione spoke breathlessly. Harry looked from the bracelet to Hermione's large chocolate brown eyes. "It's beautiful." Tears formed in her eyes and she wrapped her arms around Harry's neck in a tight embrace.

"It's not quite finished yet." Hermione sat back and looked at his quizzically.

"What do you mean?" Harry smiled and put the bracelet on Hermione's right wrist.

"It's a special sort of bracelet…" He took out his wand, touched the stone and whispered '_pateovenustas_**'.** Immediately the purple veins glowed brightly and stood out starkly against their black surroundings. Hermione watched amazed as the purple veins glowed, pulsating and suddenly turned to blood red. Once they turned red the glowing slowly started to ebb away till eventually, the red veins were only visible upon close inspection. Hermione, amazed, touched the stone.

"It's warm…" Hermione looked up at Harry who sat smiling at her. "Harry, I don't understand, I've never seen anything like this. What is it?"

"This bracelet connects me to you. See how the stone's veins are red and subdued?" Hermione nodded. "It means that I'm alive and quite alright." Hermione nodded slowly, starting to understand.

"So… if you were - " Hermione stopped.

"If I were _dying_ it'd start glowing again, the colour of the veins would vary depending on how I was feeling. And if I were dead… it'd be completely black." Hermione nodded.

"Thank you Harry. So much." Harry smiled and kissed Hermione's forehead.

"My pleasure but I really have to go. Lupin will kill me if I'm late. Will I get to see you tonight?" Hermione smiled and nodded.

"I'll be waiting for you in the common room." With a goofy-happy grin on his face, Harry ran out of Hermione's room and headed towards the classroom where Lupin and Moody would be waiting for him.

* * *

Authors Note: Wow. A chapter up. I'm on a role here. I'm in the middle of two weeks of end of year exams. And i needed a break from studying. And as soon as i started I couldn't stop. So here's Chapter 19. sorry about the wait. And now for someacknowledgments.

**Crazyboy88** - Heh. Shhhhh. I was hoping no one would notice. Here's the update you asked for deary!

**rat-gal2000** - Thank you x

**BloodBlackRoses **- Ah my faithful reviewer!You're back! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And the many more to come. I can't believe I'm up to chapter 20 and I haven't even gotten HALF way through the plot i've got lined up for this story. Perhaps I need to cut to the chase and stop blabbing about unimportant stuff.

**Mysteriouscharm** - I really like your username btw. Ahahah, I love the little triangle that's happening. But I'll tell you a secret, this triangle is going to be broken soon! Shock horror. Who WILL she choose?

**Badgurl13a **- Mmm. See, I agree with you. Voldemort is actually a real, living, breathing person and a lot of stories don't acknowledge that. Thank you for your review, you've uplifted my spirits.

**wiccan-witch88** - Where would the fun be in making Hermione go with the guy everyone expects her to go with? Heheheheh.

**Malfoy-Jacky** - Aw. It's reviews like yours that I love. No matter how many times you hear how much people like your story; every time I hear it i'm completely amazed. Thank you so much for reading my story. Hope you liked this chapter.

**Bluebaby3296** - omg I'm so sorry. I've made you wait longer then that weekend! I hope this chapter subdues your curiousity until the next update. I've got a surprise in store for you all with the next chapter. You'll be blown away with the plot twists I've got hidden up my sleeve.


	20. Chapter Twenty

**The Price of a World**

**Chapter Twenty**

* * *

"Thank you Harry. So much." Harry smiled and kissed Hermione's forehead.

"My pleasure but I really have to go. Lupin will kill me if I'm late. Will I get to see you tonight?" Hermione smiled and nodded.

"I'll be waiting for you in the common room." With a goofy-happy grin on his face, Harry ran out of Hermione's room and headed towards the classroom where Lupin and Moody would be waiting for him.

* * *

Hermione sat quietly in the Gryffindor common room reading, with Ron next to her vigorously doing his Transfiguration homework. The rest of Gryffindor house had already gone to bed leaving Hermione and Ron alone in the common room. As the clock rung out 9 O'clock, both of their heads snapped towards the portrait doorway waiting for Harry to enter. However, when the portrait did open, Tonks and Charlie entered the common room.

"Tonks, Charlie!" Hermione exclaimed. "What're you doing here?" Charlie grinned.  
"We thought we'd have a little… get together to sort of – wish Harry good luck." At that moment Dobby appeared with a pop, in front of the fireplace.  
"Is Master Harry Potter here yet Professor Weasley?"  
"No, not yet Dobby."  
"Oh good. Dobby was worried that Dobby would be late."  
"Is all the food ready Dobby?"  
"Oh yes Professor Weasley. Dobby had it all made especially for Master Harry Potter." Dobby clicked his fingers and plates of steaming food appeared on the desks around the common room. With another click of his fingers, jugs of butter beer appeared on the desks along with cakes and various sweets.

Light pattering of footsteps coming down the staircases to the dorms caught everyone's attention. All together; Ginny, Seamus, Lavender, Parvati, Colin, Dean and Neville entered the common room from the staircase.  
"Ah. We're almost all here." Charlie said, grinning proudly at what he'd organised.  
"Who else is to come?" Hermione asked, blinking slightly.  
"Lupin, Harry and Moody – of course. Dumbledore, McGonagall and Hagrid."  
"Wow. Harry will love this." The bracelet on Hermione's wrist pulsated slightly, sending tingling vibrations up her arm. Something clicked inside her head and without even meaning to, Hermione blurted out – "Harry's coming." Ron looked at Hermione quizzically and right on cue, Harry opened the portrait door and entered the common room with Lupin, Moody, Dumbledore, McGonagall and Hagrid. He stopped dead in his tracks and blinked at the sight before him.

"Um. Surprise?" Charlie announced uncertainly. Ron snorted with laughter as did Harry. Ginny broke the awkward silence.  
"Good luck Harry. Charlie organised this for us all to be together for support."  
"And Dobby got your favourite sweets!" Dobby exclaimed. Harry grinned and laughed.  
"Thanks Dobby. Thank you Charlie, everyone else." Harry took a seat next to Hermione and kissed her on the cheek whilst everyone else dug into the food and butter beer. Dobby came scuttling over with a glass of butter beer for Harry and Hermione.  
"Thank you Dobby but you really didn't have to…" Hermione said, still defending her S.P.E.W. ideals.  
"Dobby did have to. Dobby would do anything for Harry Potter." Harry blushed slightly before engaging in conversation with Lupin and Tonks. Hermione joined Ginny, Lavender and Parvati in the corner to listen in on their naïve teenage gossip that Hermione never really saw the point in involving herself in.

* * *

The clock was nearing 11:45pm when Dumbledore clapped his hands for attention.  
"I believe… that it's time for Harry to be off to bed. Along with the rest of the Gryffindors. You all have class tomorrow morning and I'm sure your teachers won't accept the excuse of 'slept in' when you're late to class." Seamus, Dean, Neville, Parvati, Lavender, Ginny and Colin said their goodbyes, good lucks and goodnights before heading back up to their dorms for a much-needed sleep. Dumbledore turned to the remaining group.  
"Sleep tight everyone. I'll meet you all in my office tomorrow at 10." Dumbledore turned and left Gryffindor tower with Lupin, Moody, Tonks, Charlie McGonagall and Hagrid in tow.  
"Dobby wishes you the best of luck Harry."  
"Thanks Dobby. You take care." With a click of his fingers, Dobby and the empty plates and glasses vanished. 

Hermione turned on the sofa to face Harry. She looked deep into his eyes; he was so calm. So collected. Why wasn't he worried? Stressed? Scared? There was a possibility that he would be killed in just 12 hours and he didn't seem to notice. He was like the old Harry again. He was her Harry that she'd known and fallen in love with as soon as she met him in her first year at Hogwarts. He was like an innocent child; free from the pressures of the complex society they lived in. He was happy; wrinkles formed around his eyes as he laughed with Ron. His matt of dark brown hair made messier as he brushed it off his forehead and out of his eyes. Revealing his trademark, lightening bolt scar. The scar that sent shivers down Hermione's spine. His emerald green eyes that seemed almost to sparkle when he looked at her. His smile that would make any girl swoon and his character that would make even a stranger feel as if they'd known him their entire life.

"Hermione? Are you okay?" Ron and Harry were looking at her, concerned. She blinked slightly as she was brought back to reality.  
"Oh. Sorry, yeah. I'm fine."  
"You seemed off you in your own world just then."  
"Perhaps I was…" Hermione said, leaning sideways to rest her head on Harry's shoulder. "Harry, do you think you're ready to face Voldemort?"  
"It's not too late to back out." Ron added.  
"I've been waiting for revenge on Voldemort my entire life – I've never bee prepared every other time I've faced him. But now; I'm ready for him. I wouldn't back out Ron; I've got too much pride for that. Anyway, Voldemort is starting to get a little too big for his boots, and someone needs to put him in his place."

* * *

**Times Up**:

It was the morning of the 4th day, and at midday the tile would active and become a portkey; catapulting Harry into the most important battle of his life. Hermione and Ron were at breakfast that morning; Dumbledore, Charlie, Tonks, Snape, McGonagall and Hagrid were not.

"They're probably with Harry giving him some final pointers before we all meet at 10am." Ron spoke allowed, reassuring himself more then Hermione. Hermione smiled nervously and nodded before looking down at her untouched breakfast.

"I'm not really hungry Ron… If you'll excuse me for a while. I need to get some air, be alone…" Hermione got up from her seat and rushed out of the hall before Ron could reply. Draco, watching Hermione as usual, saw her rush from the hall and made a hasty pace to follow her.

Hermione burst out the large oak doors and into the crisp morning air. She breathed hard and deep, it was as if she were choking. Wrapping her cloak around her tightly, she set off at a brisk walk towards the lake. The cold air stung her throat as she gulped in the air, choking in the back of her throat forming tears in the corners of her eyes. She broke into a run, sliding with grace down the grassy hill. She ran at a large oak tree; it was this tree that she and Harry shared their first kiss under. She wrapped her arms around the trunk of the tree, gripping on to it to keep her standing up right. She turned around so her back was leaning against the tree. Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks as she slid her back down the tree trunk and collapsed into a heap on the damp grass. She looked back up towards the castle and saw a cloaked figure coming towards her; the platinum blonde hair gave away the persons identity. She groaned inwardly and tried to wipe away the tears.

'I have to end this… this can't go on any longer.' She said to herself. She wished that Draco would turn away and go back to the castle, but he kept coming. She looked to her left and saw the path winding between the trees. The urge to get up and run away was so powerful – so overwhelming. No, she needed to stay. She had to be there for Harry. He needed her as much as she needed him.

'Oh god oh god oh god. Please help me.' Draco was heading down the hill now. 'Please give me the strength. I can't do this alone…'

"Hermione." Draco knelt before her on the grass. "You're crying. What's wrong?" Draco pulled her into an embrace, holding her tightly against his chest.

'I _must_ end this…' Hermione thought to herself as she pushed her body away from him.

"Draco…" He looked at her, unsurely. "Draco I can't do this anymore."

"Do what Hermione?"

"This! Us. It can't – I can't…"

"What? What, you're saying you don't want to be with me anymore? You don't want the stress? Frustration? Can't handle the lies? Deceit?" Draco was standing now, pacing. Hermione was on her feet, tears streaming down. She couldn't talk properly without choking on her tears.

"No! No I'm not saying that."

"Then what _are_ you saying Hermione? Because frankly, I don't see what could be so hard about our relationship! I've sacrificed my _life_ for you Hermione. I've gone against my father, my family name, and my _destiny_ to be with you. And you've had to what? _Lie_ to someone who loves you? Because that's _so_ hard compared to what I've been through, compared to what I've sacrificed for you."

"STOP IT! Draco, STOP! I don't want to hear any more of it. Draco I love you but I -" Draco laughed half heartedly – sarcastically.

"But what? There's too much risk in loving me? So you'll take second best because he's the one they'd all approve of?" Hermione looked at the ground, she was emotionally defeated. "Yeah, Hermione. It's so incredibly hard for you..." Draco turned away and began to walk back towards the castle.

"Draco! Wait!" Hermione ran after him as he waited for her on the hill. When she reached him, she looked up into the eyes she had stared into endlessly so many times. Those eyes that she fell in love with. Draco sighed and held her by the shoulders.

"Hermione, I love you. You need to sort this out by yourself. You need to work out whom _you_ want to be with." With that, Draco turned away from her and walked back to Hogwarts, knowing that that'd be the last time he would ever be with her again.

* * *

**Authors Note**: Sorry, Had to do it to you xD Gotta love them cliff hangers! Coming up: Harry's battle with VOLDIE! 


	21. Chapter TwentyOne

**The Price of a World

* * *

**

**Chapter Twenty-One**

"Hermione, I love you. You need to sort this out by yourself. You need to work out whom _you_ want to be with." With that, Draco turned away from her and walked back to Hogwarts, knowing that that'd be the last time he would ever be with her again.

* * *

Hermione made her way up to the Gryffindor tower. She walked slowly; in shock of what had just occurred. Had she really just broken up with Draco and he with her? Had he really told her to make a decision? Making a decision – that wasn't too hard. She made decisions all the time. But not decisions that would split her heart in two. Or decisions that would make her best friends turn into her enemies. Or decisions that would push away a boy in need of love and guidance. Or decisions that bettered herself and not others… 

'Myself.' Hermione stopped in the middle of the hallway. 'I have to make this decision for myself. Not for other people or in order to please others. But for me. What do _I_ want…' She blinked a few times; thoughts were tossing around in her head like silver cutlery in a tumble dryer. Her emotions were being given a work out and she feared that soon they'd collapse and she'd be unable to function. She'd be unable to lie. She'd be unable to pretend. She'd be unable to – Hermione looked up the hallway, it was empty. She turned and looked back the other way, and again it was empty. One way led to the Gryffindor tower; the other, downstairs to the dungeons.

This day, this moment, a landmark in Hermione's everlasting history. Hermione made her decision and ran off down the hallway. Today; was d-day.

* * *

**3 Hours to go:**

Today; was d-day. Harry sat in an armchair by the window in the Gryffindor common room. Hedwig sat on the armrest and rubbed her head against the ruff of Harry's knitted jumper. He looked out the window and over the grounds; down towards the lake. He admired the large oak tree that he and Hermione had shared their first kiss beneath. He thought about Hermione all the time. She was his power source. It was her face and the happy memories with her that fuelled him and prepared him for battle against Voldemort. Harry sat forward towards the window as a small figure clad in a black cloak ran for his oak tree. The person was hugging the tree – grasping it before sliding to the ground. Harry stared closer. It wasn't – it couldn't be. Hermione? It was, it was her. Harry watched closely. She seemed to be upset as her miniscule figure was trembling. Harry was about to go down to her when another figure approached her. 'It must be Ron.' But no, it was not the fiery-headed boy. Infact, this person had a trademark mop of hair – a mop of platinum blonde.

Harry jumped up, accidentally knocking a now disgruntled Hedwig, as he was about to run down to save his heroine from the likes of Malfoy. But stopped in his tracks. For Malfoy did something most peculiar. He knelt down in front of Hermione and pulled her into a hug – and Hermione let him. Harry sat back down, much to the pleasure of Hedwig, and decided to watch to see where this was headed. He was unsure of whether to be angry, hurt, curious, disappointed, defensive or outraged. His emotions knew not what way to go nor did his head or heart give them any direction.

Suddenly, Malfoy stood and started pacing. Hermione soon jumped up too – her hands clenched in fists by her side. Harry knew her too well for that was a habit she got into when she was mad – a tell tale sign to retreat. They seemed to be yelling at each other. Hermione was crying even more – she looked as if her mother had just died. Harry's brow furrowed for a moment in thought. Since when were Hermione and Malfoy on speaking terms? And why did she allow him to hug her, let alone why Malfoy would ever touch her in an affectionate way? Harry shook his head and turned his attention back to the scene unfolding outside. Draco had turned his back on Hermione and was stalking back up towards the castle. Harry sat back in his hair and laughed slightly.

'Good ol' Hermione. She's put the ferret in his place.' More movement from down by the lake caught Harry's attention. The scene was not quite over yet. Hermione was – she was – running after Malfoy? Why would she..? Malfoy stopped and waited for her to reach him. At first it looked as if he were about to hit her, but his arms took hold of her shoulders. Harry watched closely. He could see Malfoy's facial features. When he spoke to Hermione; something about his features, changed. They weren't as harsh and cold as they usually were. This was different. This was a side of Malfoy Harry didn't think anyone had ever seen. Draco walked away from Hermione and she fell to her knees on the grass.

Harry didn't know what was going on or what had just occurred but he didn't like it. A shiver ran up his spine and to his neck. Something was out of place here and he was determined to get to the bottom of it. He sat back in the armchair with Hedwig by his side. He put his feet up on the coffee table and crossed his legs. Someone was being kept in the dark and Harry had a bad feeling that it may just be him. A frown crept its way across his brow as he awaited Hermione and Ron's return after breakfast.

* * *

**Authors Note:** Question; what did you think of Draco's argument with Hermione at the end of the last chapter? In character – as much as my stories characters can be? Plausible? Necessary? How do you think the story is going so far? I REALLY need your feedback guys. I want to know your opinions, ideas, criticisms; whatever! I'm just nosey and want to know them! 

Oh and sorry about how long it's taking for updates. For those of you who live in Australia, or know the Australian schooling system – I'm in year 12. Exams. And yeah. Please bear with me. And yes, I realise it's incredibly short. But I wasn't sure whether to make it really short or really long. I took the "short" option as you can see. Heh. The next chapter is going to be great.


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